The Missed Opportunity for Public Schools and Climate Change

As extreme weather grows more common and severe across the U.S., local and regional agencies are devising plans to upgrade critical infrastructure for long-term health, safety, and reliability. Yet, in a 2022 survey by the EdWeek Research Center, most school district leaders said they had not acted on such a plan in the prior five years. This article from Education Week draws on national reports and surveys to spotlight the benefits for schools and communities when districts partner in municipal adaptation and sustainability plans. The piece also explores the gap between public support for such partnerships, which is robust, and their relatively limited implementation.

In many cities, the article notes, school districts are among the largest employers, property owners, building and vehicle operators, energy consumers, and producers of emissions that warm the atmosphere and drive extreme weather patterns. As a result, schools stand to gain from local and regional initiatives to develop more resilient and energy-efficient infrastructure. Among the examples cited is Milwaukee, where the school district is partnering with the city and other relevant agencies to replace asphalt playgrounds, which trap heat, with rain gardens and other sustainable landscape elements that help cool surface temperatures and reduce the health impacts of extreme heat on students.

The article points to the results of a survey by researchers at Teachers College, Columbia University, as evidence that most Americans largely support the idea of school districts taking active roles in these kinds of partnerships. And, the article notes, a 2023 report by the Aspen Institute found that nearly ⅔ of municipal plans the authors analyzed included some form of partnership with local schools; for example, switching to electric school buses. Nonetheless, Aspen found the plans most often emphasized the teaching functions of local schools over adaptations to their operations and infrastructure.