{"id":354661,"date":"2026-06-10T13:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/354661\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T13:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:36:11","slug":"climate-activists-oppose-cut-to-program-in-berkeley-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/354661\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate activists oppose cut to program in Berkeley schools\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HighBerkeley High School students drew murals on Allston Way on Oct. 24 in support of the Sunrise Movement club\u2019s \u201cMake Polluters Pay\u201d campaign.\u00a0Credit: Vanessa Arredondo\/Berkeleyside <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a tough few years for Berkeley youth and activists who see climate change as the central crisis of our age.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has rolled back environmental protections and ramped up subsidies for fossil fuels<\/a> while blocking <\/a>clean energy programs<\/a> and scrubbing information<\/a> about global warming from public websites. Though this agenda is<\/a> unpopular<\/a>, climate change is now near the bottom<\/a> of issues voters prioritize. California Gov. Gavin<\/a> Newsom has<\/a> joined Democrats across the country in talking about climate change less<\/a>, placing more of an emphasis on affordability and energy security.<\/p>\n

In Berkeley five years ago, the school district built one of the nation\u2019s first climate literacy programs<\/a> \u2014 aimed at ensuring all students graduate with an understanding of environmentalism. Now, amid a $10.4 million budget deficit<\/a>, the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) is moving to cut the teaching position that leads the program. The district\u2019s sustainability coordinator<\/a>, who works to implement all of BUSD\u2019s green goals, is also on the chopping block. (BUSD did not respond to requests for comment for this story.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Community advocates have been rallying to keep climate and environmental initiatives intact, saying that the school district is walking away from its leadership on a crucial issue at a crucial time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to see something you put a lot of work into and not know what the future of it is,\u201d said Ellen McClure, the teacher who leads Berkeley\u2019s climate literacy program and whose job is on the line. \u201cUnfortunately, a lot of times these programs, when there are budget cuts, are just some of the first things looked at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bethany Lourie, a science teacher at Ruth Acty who\u2019s taken a lead role in implementing the climate literacy program across the district\u2019s elementary schools, said it\u2019s \u201cdevastating\u201d to see environmental rollbacks \u201con our own turf.\u201d She said her students enjoy her class climate projects and take the learning seriously because they believe \u201cit really matters to the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Berkeley remains a hub of climate activism, with teachers, parents and students mobilizing to safeguard programs and initiatives, and activists adapting their approach since President Donald Trump\u2019s return to power.<\/p>\n

The Sunrise Movement club has organized events such as the Make Polluters Pay rally<\/a>, where students called on local and state leaders to hold major corporate emitters accountable, as well as walkouts to protest immigration enforcement raids.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe focus on the intersectionality of climate and how that connects to oil corruption in our current government, especially with rising fascism under the Trump regime,\u201d chapter president and BHS junior \u00c1mela Amago told Berkeleyside in April during a climate rally<\/a>. \u201cSunrise is a lot more focused on authoritarianism, and it\u2019s so difficult to pass any climate legislation when we\u2019re under the current government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"About 100 Berkeley High School students walked out of class on Oct. 24 to support climate justice and denounce authoritarianism under the Donald Trump administration.\u00a0Credit: Vanessa Arredondo\/Berkeleyside <\/p>\n

\u201cOur tax dollars are being spent on wars and putting a focus on things that aren\u2019t at all helpful for the planet,\u201d retired Berkeley teacher Martha Cain, a former Berkeley school teacher who has become a climate activist in her retirement and was part of the four-woman team behind the creation of BUSD\u2019s climate literacy program<\/a>, said in a recent interview. \u201cWhen Trump was elected, I took to heart the idea of really focusing locally during this time when it\u2019s harder to do something on a federal level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lourie said she has needed to navigate challenging climate conversations in her classroom as the Trump administration slashes environmental protections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cKids are aware of it to different degrees,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to project the darkness, but it\u2019s also about making them recognize that these problems are urgent, and we can\u2019t drop the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sustainability coordinator was established in 2018 after BUSD created a green plan<\/a> to be carbon-neutral by 2050, to be non-polluting whenever feasible, and to reduce water usage by 15% by 2030, among other goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The four-woman team behind the creation of BUSD\u2019s climate literacy program \u2014 Ella Suring, Laura Babitt, Martha Cain and Sarah Ranney \u2014in James Kenney Park in Northwest Berkeley on Nov. 11, 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

In 2021, Berkeley Unified unanimously adopted its climate literacy framework<\/a> for teaching human-induced climate change, including its causes and solutions, and who will feel its effects the hardest. The goal is for all students to graduate from BUSD with an understanding of environmental justice issues and how to address them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The teacher position was created a year later to facilitate the initiative, with funding coming from an Arts, Music & Instructional Materials block grant. That role, once funded at 80% and later reduced to 60% due to cuts, is now at risk of being fully eliminated due to expiring grant funds. BUSD leaders said the climate literacy initiative would return to its original model, in which teachers receive stipends to support the work. Associate Superintendent Jill Hoogendyk said the initiative will continue \u201cbut in a different format, and it might not be as big as it has been before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The climate literacy teacher position coordinates the K-12 climate curriculum and trains educators to teach environmental justice. The position also oversees districtwide and community programs and collaborations, including climate fairs, green career fairs, professional development conferences for Bay Area educators, and \u201cFix-it Fests\u201d<\/a> where people bring in broken items \u2014 everything from toasters to sweaters to weed whackers\u00a0 \u2014 and get them repaired by volunteers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Two other teachers support elementary and high school climate literacy education<\/a> at Berkeley Unified in addition to volunteers in the climate literacy working group composed of teachers, parents and community members. BUSD also has science teachers, and garden, STEM, and makerspace instructors who spend part of their time participating in the initiative. In the sustainability program<\/a>, the coordinator works with the district\u2019s maintenance manager.)<\/p>\n

More than 100 climate activists, educators and community members signed a letter asking BUSD to maintain the climate literacy teacher position<\/a>, and students, members of the climate literacy group, educators and community members have lobbied the school board against its proposed cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vita Wells, founder of the Culture of Repair Project, which funds Fix-It Fests at Berkeley schools, said the teaching position has been key to putting on the popular festivals, which are attended by hundreds of residents. \u201cOver the last three years, community members have put in over 4,000 hours of volunteer effort to support all these activities in the classroom and outside,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sisters Olivia and Laura McNally, who are students at Martin Luther King Middle and Ruth Acty Elementary schools, said at the May 27 school board meeting that learning about climate change is important because it will determine their future.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt my old school, they didn\u2019t teach us at all about climate change, and so as a result nobody cared, and if nobody cares, then nothing will ever happen,\u201d Laura said. \u201cHere we are being taught about it, which means that people are actually working to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

McClure, who has taught at BUSD for about 12 years, including in the garden and cooking program, said it will be difficult to fully implement the climate literacy initiatives without a dedicated role.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we have a really strong community that values this work, and I know that it will continue in some ways,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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