I am all for green schools. Solar panels like you see in the picture are ultimately a win/win for our society. What better place to set a precedent for “green” than in our schools.
But is now the best time spend 6 billion on “greenery?” (pardon the quip).
In the article it is mentioned that many schools are falling apart. If fixing them is the rationale for this money, I’d like to see it go ONLY to those schools. I’ve been teaching for over 10 years and every school I’ve taught in has had goon string facilities not in need of reinforcement or remodeling. I’m willing to bet those state-of-the-art schools that are not falling apart will get the same amount of funding. They may even tear out perfectly good lighting and electronic system to be in compliance with this new bill.
Some better suggestions for 6 billion dollars:
- Earmark funds as needed for broken down schools on a case by case basis.
- Map the country out in sections and go green one small section at a time.
- Offer cash or other valuable incentives for schools that make these changes with their own budget dollars.
- Train teachers to teach with modern methods (one suggestion is EDI).
- Music and art programs
This is my reaction to this article. If you’d like to read the whole article, click on the image. How do you feel about this recent “green schools” expenditure passing?
5 Comments
Well, dollars spent on actual buildings need to go to those schools that are literally falling apart. Some schools in my area have no libraries or toilet paper. I’d like to see more public school students have access to the kind of enrichment & programming I’ve seen at private schools. The studies are there: music, art, early foreign language learning, and lots of PE are not fluff or fillers, but necessary to growth, development, and learning. Smaller class sizes, too. Solar panels are fine and good, but let’s prioritize!
I agree those schools should be fixed. Part of the problem with this expense is that it paints with a broad brush. Everything will get money when their rationale started with the ones falling apart.
music and arts programs? what a novel and strange idea :)
most of the artists i know are strongly committed to green. maybe by bringing back music and arts programs (that perhaps have a strong environmental component) they could kill (uh, wrong metaphor) two or three birds with one stone. but that might be way too efficient.
I think green is fine and dandy but should schools at the taxpayer’s dime at this point in American history be the ones to set the pace? We have troubles that go so far beyond. When people start speaking “billions” I just really have to analyze the “why.”
I do agree with you that the two combined would be a great thing :) Thanks so much for stopping by.
If schools are in need of renovation or repair, they should be looking into Green options which will likely save money in the long run. I do agree that this should not be used to take down or renovate schools that are in fine working condition.