Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act
House Committee on Education and Labor fact sheet
The Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act:
- Invests $100 billion in grants and $30 billion in bond authority targeted at high-poverty schools with facilities that pose health and safety risks to students and staff;
- Outlines green practices for new construction and renovation projects, including the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system;
- Creates over 2 million jobs;
- Creates 17,785 construction jobs;
- Allocates 2021 program dollars on an emergency basis to aid in safely reopening public schools in line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s public health guidelines, such as for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems;
- Requires states to develop comprehensive statewide public databases on the condition of public school facilities; most states do not track school facility conditions, and this would provide much-needed insight into the condition of our public schools; and
- Expands access to high-speed broadband to ensure that public schools have the reliable and high-speed internet access they need for digital learning.
Clean Commute for Kids Act
Summary: Reps. Hayes and Cardenas will soon introduce the Clean Commute for Kids Act with the Senate companion bill being introduced by Sen. Padilla. The bill would reauthorize the Clean School Bus Grant Program, previously introduced by Vice President Harris as a Senator in 2019, for public schools to replace existing school buses with zero emission school buses. This bill addresses equity by prioritizing applications from districts that serve the highest number of students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. We have worked with both offices on strengthening the labor language to include prevailing wage, protect against privatization, worker protections (against salary reduction/lay off, providing appropriate training, etc) and ensuring districts will own their own buses. The bill also includes “Buy America” language which requires all materials and manufacturing to be made in the United States.
Why it matters: “Public schools are huge consumers of mass transit, and the challenge of getting students to school buildings in a more green, efficient way is one we must tackle immediately. By investing in zero emission school busses we can create cleaner, healthier, more sustainable school communities where our children don’t just survive but actually thrive. This bill takes measurable, sustainable action to do just that, by assisting districts in a transition to domestically manufactured zero-emission school buses while protecting and creating jobs, maintaining workers’ rights, and ensuring high road labor standards in their manufacture, operation and maintenance. It’s an important step toward making our school communities more sustainable overall.” - Randi Weingarten
Climate Change Education Act
Summary: Sen. Markey introduced the Climate Change Education Act. the Climate Change Education Act, which would give sizeable grants to states to develop and implement climate change literacy plans as well as well as grants to higher education institutions to engage teams of faculty and students in delivering services related to local climate mitigation and adaptation issues to their local communities, including union apprenticeships, and green CTE tracks connecting to green collar jobs. This bill will also provide learning opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom and promote programs related to climate adaptation, and resilience and, environmental and climate justice. The measure has good chances to move forward this year, considering increased energy around climate change in Congress, and we need everyone who cares about this topic to join the fight to get it passed.
Why it matters: “Our students – and generations after them – will have to navigate the impacts of climate change on their lives, future jobs and changing environment. It is our duty as educators and leaders to build students’ understanding of the climate crisis, the role we all play in it, and how we can be part of the solution. We must incorporate climate literacy and education into our teaching so more people understand the urgency, and how to tackle it. This bill accomplishes these goals by providing learning opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom and promoting programs related to climate adaptation, and resilience and, environmental and climate justice. With these programs, we can work to educate the next generation to be significantly more aware of the climate crisis, and what to do about it.” - Randi Weingarten
THRIVE Act
Green New Deal Network THRIVE Act Fact Sheet
The THRIVE Act will invest a minimum of $1 trillion per year over four years to create 15 million jobs and achieve full employment. It would create:
- Over 2 million jobs in the education and care economy, including teachers and workers in healthcare, child care, elder care and public health.
- Over 5 million jobs to upgrade our infrastructure for clean water, affordable public transportation and a reliable electric grid.
- Over 4 million jobs to manufacture and expand access to wind and solar power, electric vehicles, and clean and healthy buildings.
- Nearly 4 million jobs to protect our wetlands and forests and invest in family farmers who are embracing regenerative agriculture.
THRIVE will build the power of workers to fight inequality by:
- Expanding all workers' rights to form and join unions and negotiate with their employers through adoption of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act.
- Ensuring high-road labor standards for all jobs created by THRIVE investments by guaranteeing family-sustaining wages and benefits, expanding union apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, requiring Project Labor Agreements, strengthening Buy American standards and more.
- Protecting wages and benefits for any workers or communities adversely affected by the economic transition to renewable energy.
- Preventing privatization of any public sector jobs and public resources.