California's reduced budget means lawmakers have some tough decisions to make. But one thing seems like an easy YES: Taking advantage of the billions of federal dollars available from the IRA to create healthy schools for all CA kids.

Please join us for a policy forum on how California can create climate-resilient schools for all TK-12 school children!

Amid fires, wildfire smoke, extreme heat, and other climate-driven disasters and health hazards, California’s leading experts in children’s health and education have come together to call for a cost-effective, ten year $150 billion investment to ensure K-12 public schools can remain open and provide safe and healthy places for California's children to learn and grow.

We have launched the Climate Ready Schools Coalition website, where you can find more information about our work, our members, and resources regarding climate-resilient schools.

We support the proposal that the CalSHAPE HVAC Upgrade and Repair Grants be used for only the installation of zero emission equipment and prioritize funding for schools in underserved and environmental justice communities, near busy roadways, and in communities with poor air quality. In addition, we emphasize our strong agreement with proposal Option 1 which would make HVAC system replacements with gas equipment ineligible for the grant award.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom today announced a state budget that clearly aims to make hard choices as the state faces its first deficit in years. But the governor’s proposal leaves out two wise investments.

We’ve joined with a statewide coalition to write a letter asking Gov. Newsom to ensure that school infrastructure investments are cost-effective and aligned with California’s climate and equity goals, and to coordinate state, county, and local actions to safeguard children’s health and learning.

We applaud the work that went into the adoption of this year’s budget, but we must move quickly to ensure we are preparing our school buildings, grounds, and students to be climate-ready.

In “Clean and Healthy Schools are Electric: Aligning California’s School Infrastructure Investments with our Climate and Health Goals,” our new report with Rewiring America and UC Santa Barbara, we make the case for upgrading to all-electric HVAC systems with advanced filtration. This transition can deliver enormous educational and health benefits to California’s students and school staff, all while cutting operating costs.

In our guest post on NextGen Policy’s Climate 100 blog, we urged California’s lawmakers to align every dollar spent in K-12 infrastructure with building an equitable zero carbon future and ensure that our current actions work towards, and not against, the state’s 2045 goal.

Extraordinary times also call for extraordinary vision. The development of a statewide Master Plan for Climate Resilient Schools — supported by technical assistance to districts and schools — will ensure that future school infrastructure investment is cost-effective and aligned with California’s climate commitments, Climate Adaptation Strategy, and Extreme Heat Action Plan.

We’re urging Governor Newsom and leaders in California to invest in a renewed and far-sighted vision for how we will ensure every school campus performs its most critical function: providing a safe, healthy, and inspirational space for children to learn without disruption.

Thanks to all the young people who joined us at the Ed100 Leadership Academy. We're excited to work together!

We submitted a comment on California’s new Scoping Plan for economy-wide decarbonization alongside the California Federation of Teachers, Ten Strands, and Rewiring America. As one of California’s largest sectors of public infrastructure, our statewide climate goals cannot be met without including K-12 schools as part of the solution.

UndauntedK12 urges state leaders to amend the education budget trailer bill 1) to include language that ensures that one-time General Fund dollars for school construction and maintenance are spent in alignment with the state’s climate and emissions reduction goals, and 2) to fund a master plan for healthy, equitable, and climate-resilient school buildings and grounds and increased technical assistance to districts and schools.

CA SCR 53 is a resolution that would make California only the second state to declare a climate emergency. This resolution was written by youth climate leaders and continues the movement to support youth voices in climate policy. We are proud to offer our support.

After the May revision of the 2022-23 budget and the news of a nearly $100B surplus, we wrote to California’s budget leaders again to encourage them to invest in climate-resilient schools and develop a statewide master plan for climate action in public schools.

We wrote to California’s budget leaders to urge them to take action in this year’s budget to improve the climate resilience of our school facilities and grounds.