Thanks in large part to Heal the Bay and many others, California is now poised to lead the nation in environmental education.

The Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI) allocates state funds of $7 million dollars over two years for environmental education curricula development under the Education and the Environment Initiative (AB 1548 Pavley – Chapter 665, Statutes of 2003).

The Education and Environment Initiative (EEI) is a landmark environmental education law, a comprehensive state program that provides education principles and curricula in all disciplines (science, history/social sciences, English/language arts, and mathematics) for all K-12 grade students in state public schools. Heal the Bay originally authored the law with Assemblymember Fran Pavley and is now working on statewide implementation with the California Environmental Protection Agency and the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the lead state agencies of the program.

Heal the Bay will continue to work to ensure that the new curricula will allow children to become stewards, to make informed decisions about their impact on the environment. California will be developing the curricula over the next two years, and school teachers will begin field testing the new model curriculum thereafter. Results will be presented to the State Board of Education for approval a year later.

Future implementation of the EEI will be supported by state efforts, and the wide-ranging EEI partnership of private foundations, academic institutions, educational groups, industry associations, and nonprofit organizations.

For more information on the upcoming curricula development process and forthcoming RFPs, please visit the Education and the Environment Initiative Homepage (EPA) or contact Andrea Lewis, Assistant Deputy Secretary CalEPA at alewis@epa.ca.gov