Maryland now requires environmental proficiency to graduate from high school.
In an historic vote today, the Maryland State Board of Education provided specific guidance to all public schools to require that each student be environmentally literate before he or she graduates from high school. The vote cements Maryland as the first state in the country to approve a graduation requirement in environmental literacy, a credit to Governor O’Malley, to board members, and to Dr. Nancy Grasmick, State Superintendent of Schools.
“This is a momentous day not only for Maryland but for educators across the country who are watching what Maryland does, and hoping to increase outdoor learning in their states, “said Don Baugh, director of the No Child Left Inside Coalition (NCLI). “ Governor O’Malley and Dr. Grasmick deserve our profound gratitude. For years they have put Maryland at the forefront of the environmental education movement.”
The state school board vote clarifies for schools that each child must receive a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary environmental education that meets the approval of the State Superintendent of Schools. Regulations given final approval by the board provide critical flexibility and oversight for school systems as they develop effective environmental literacy programs aligned with the Maryland State Environmental Literacy Standards.
Update: Maryland is also last — last! — in personal freedom. Someone get Jerry Brown on the horn.
Is actual literacy, as in reading and writing, required?
Actually, with these annoying "ecomagination" captchas it seems like NRO has a similar environmental literacy requirement to post.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have an idea - what do you say we establish economic literacy as a requirement first? Better yet, how about plain old literacy?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn related news, summer school is now called "re-education camp".
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI thought they weren't allowed to teach religion in the public schools.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOnly Judeo-Christianity if forbidden.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGaia worship is approved. Islam is a cross-cultural study.
I was going to say, "just another reason to homeschool," but then I checked out Maryland's requirements for homeschooling. Yowch!
Let me say instead, "Just another reason to never live in Maryland."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo, they may not be proficient in U.S. history, but they'll be environmentally literate?
And this is supposed to be a good thing?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNo wonder Americans are so ignorant of history. Maybe Johnny cannot read or write but he sure knows how he needs to use those recycling bins.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRE: "he needs to use those recycling bins"
Woe be unto the student who posits that "the landfills of today represent the rich mineral [and other material] deposits of tomorrow".
Believe it or not, we have maps. When we need that stuff back - and it makes financial sense to do so - we'll go dig it back up.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOh yeah, I'm familiar with that program back in the 1900's. They were called "Hitler Youth".
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMaryland now becomes the first state to establish and mandate an official religion.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI wonder if we can shoot this garbage down on that account? Might be worth a try.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWonder if they'll drag out the old Ehrlich-Holdren text Ecoscience for the required classes.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo, unless you parrot the green propaganda du jour with sufficient enthusiasm, you won't be permitted to graduate.
Ain't that just ducky.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDon't know much about history,
Don't know much biology,
Don't know much about a science book,
Don't know much about the French I took.
But they'll take an environmental literacy quiz...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTranslation: It is much easier for us lazy, semi-literate, over-paid union teachers to teach this junk rather than math, English, history, etc.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMyKu:
Hi! I'm Troy McClure!
You might remember me from
"Recycle or Die!!!"
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Who could have ever anticipated that Maryland would become a wellspring of future AGW skeptics? Outstanding!
Oh, wait...do they mean actual proficiency or simply an unquestioning acceptance of The Narrative and blatent disregard for actual science?
Never mind.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn a way it hardly matters. The environmental science they 'teach' (preach?) will be demonstrably sound scientifically or it will not. Certainly there will be enough scientifically literate parents and students to expose it if they go with pseudoscience.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThat's a nice thing to hope.
One of the best classes I ever had in high school was a "Biology/Ecology" class. It was fairly devoid of lefty spin and had a lot of good information.
Then again, it was voluntary for me to take it and it had to compete in the relatively open market of elective classes.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI've wanted to resist admitting this for so long. Derb is right, we are doomed.
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