Environmental literacy

Environmental literacy? Well that's what we say it is of course.

Read on.....

Maryland is the first state in the country to impose a new requirement to graduate from high school -- something called environmental literacy.

But what is that? That is the question State Senator J. B. Jennings is asking.

"What kind of education is it going to be?” he asks. “Is it going to be fact-based? Or is it going to be theory-based, which is usually politically, theory driven. And you can think, it's going to be about global warming or climate change."

Sarah Bodor of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation supports the initiative and says there is no mandate.

"People express concern about the content but what is important to know is that this new requirement doesn't actually mandate any content at all."

The new rule is a regulation from the State Board of Education, not a law passed by the legislature, so it lays out no specifics. Governor Martin O'Malley offers no real details but praises it, saying it will "infuse core subjects with lessons about conservation and smart growth and the health of our natural world."

O’Malley also said it'll serve as a "foundation for green jobs," though one analyst says training for those is just like it is for any other job.

"You need to know how to get there on time, how to be alert, how to work hard, how to absorb a lot of information, how to - you know - learn new skills," says Myron Ebell of free market think tank, the Competitive Enterprise Institute."

The state education board leaves all content up to local school boards and a state official says " local systems will implement the requirement as they see fit."

Boder says students near the Chesapeake Bay could learn by doing.

"[K]ids have the opportunity to participate in some real world learning, such as raising native oysters and replenishing reef habitat,” Boder says. “By raising the oysters, they can learn math and read and write about the history of oystering in the state of Maryland and throughout the Chesapeake Bay and that gets them excited and that helps to boost their achievements."

So, it's learning by doing. All you need is to define what the doing is then. And of course, they are going to allow those at the local level to determine what that 'doing' might entail.

Have no fear though, this is nothing but a new form of introducing environmental awareness to young minds. No one would ever attempt to embed propagated rhetoric into the minds of our children, so everyone relax and carry on with your lives. nothing to see here folks.