Speak up For Climate Action Individual School Board Member Form is Now Live

Speak Up for Climate Action Form for Individual School Board Members

The above button has a link to a Google form individual school board members can use to go on record stating that climate change is a children's issue and encouraging elected leaders at all levels (local, state, and national) to speak up for climate action and to take measures to reduce greenhouse gases in order to protect current and future students. 

While we encourage school boards to discuss and pass climate action or climate justice resolutions as a whole board, there can be multiple reasons for school board members to speak up as individual elected leaders. Here are 4 reasons school board members may wish to speak up as individuals:

1. Districts in Crisis: Some school districts may currently be in crisis (budget, contract impasse, or natural disaster). For school districts in crisis, school boards may need to focus their collective time and energy on dealing with the crisis. In these cases, it may be more appropriate for individual school board members to speak up for climate action and engage the entire board in formal discussion of a climate change resolution after the school district crisis is resolved. 
2. School Boards Not Yet Ready to Engage Publicly with Climate Change: Not all school board members may yet be ready for public discussion or engagement with the issue of climate justice. It is a complex issue and it is tied to deeply-held senses of identity, responsibility, religion, cultural and social affiliation, justice, and empowerment. For many people, perceptual filters related to self-identity and social affiliation play a larger role in knowledge of and attitudes about climate change than does mainstream scientific knowledge or science-based policy prescriptions. If a high percentage of school board members on a school board might react negatively to an effort to discuss and engage with the issue of climate justice publicly, then it may make sense to defer such discussions until a greater number of school boards have established a precedent of speaking up for climate action. Currently, speaking up for climate action is not yet the norm, but we hope to make it so with this campaign. Individual school board members on school boards that may have a complex reaction to the issue of climate justice do not have to be silent on the matter. By signing this form as an individual school board member, you can help establish the norm that school board members, as elected leaders, can and do speak up for climate action in order to protect current and future students. 
3. Board Members Eager and Ready for Quick Action: There are many great reasons for school boards to take their time and carefully consider climate justice or climate change resolutions. The process of studying the issue, consulting stakeholders, and building support/consensus can take months. Even on school boards where there will likely be enthusiasm and consensus for passing school board climate justice resolutions, the resolution process can take months. Some individual school board members are so excited to have the opportunity to speak up for climate action that they do not want to wait until a resolution makes it's way through the entire resolution process. 
4. Add momentum to our campaign and help us reach our Earth Day 2018 goal: We have set an ambitious goal of getting 100 school board members to speak up for climate action by Earth Day 2018 (4.22.18). Since all 5 Sebastopol Union School District board members voted for their Climate Change Resolution, we only 95 school board members left to go!

Thanks for reading and please spread the word.