il – when high school senior iris shadis-greengas of naperville, il wanted to see mandatory climate change education across the state, she took dramatic action, writing state legislation as part of a school assignment to try to make that happen. 

“i thought that would be the best way to make climate education something that was the most available for everyone, at least in the state,” she said. 

shadis-greengas wrote the proposed bill as part of her capstone project at naperville central high school, one of two illinois students that helped write the legislation. in august 2024, shadis-greengas’s project saw success when illinois governor jb pritzker signed house bill 4895 into law, mandating that all public schools provide instruction on climate change. 

the bill, which comes into effect beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, mandates climate change education but gives school districts the flexibility to determine how to incorporate the topic into their curriculum. the state board of education will provide instructional materials and resources. 

blazing a new trail

illinois is the fifth state to require climate change education, following in the footsteps of california, connecticut, new jersey, and new york. 

after helping author the bill, shadis-greengas advocated for the bill before it was sent through the illinois legislature, submitting advocacy forms called witness slips.

“i sent a lot of emails for witness slips,” she said. “just encouraging people to show the assembly that they supported it and they thought it was a good idea.” 

she worked with state legislators including rep. janet yang rohr, a sponsor of the bill, to see her idea come to fruition. 

another student who advocated for the bill was katie stabb of mit, who spoke about the bill at various events across illinois.

“what we were doing was just going around getting people aware of the bill,” she said. 

one of the most meaningful moments during the process, says stabb, was going into an elementary school to speak about the bill. 

“it was really amazing to see how much they already knew about climate change,” she said. “it was just, kind of getting a peek into what it could be like if students everywhere were able to have this information and that would empower them to be taking action.” 

youth are increasingly becoming the face of the environmentalist movement, as many fear for their future as the climate crisis worsens. for stabb, one solution lies in early climate change education. 

“the small kids would be a force to be reckoned with. i think we generally underestimate them,” said stabb. 

manolo avalos, an intern for climate education 4 illinois, worked with stabb in advocating for the bill across the state. he recalls an experience in the seventh grade where he grew trout in a tank and went on a field trip to release the trout. 

“i think how most schools need to be structured is, especially with environmental stuff, experiential learning, because after that field trip, i came back with questions, so did everyone else, for the teacher, and that’s how you really get students engaged,” he said. 

climate education at a crossroads

the bill faced opposition before it passed, however, as rep. adam neimerg (r-dieterich) called the bill “another very bad mandate on teachers to be indoctrinated on the ‘climate change’ ideology who will then be expected to pass that ideology onto our children.” 

“only 36 percent of our students are proficient in reading and math and that should be the focus of teachers, not indoctrinating on one political ideology over another,” said rep. neimerg. 

shadis-greengas hopes the bill and subsequent climate education in schools will inspire youth who feel powerless in the face of climate change to take action. 

“i think education is the most vital thing that we can focus on, because it’s really just the way that people learn about it that’s going to determine whether they grow up to be responsible members of their community, and that they feel like they have the power to encourage their own legislators to take action about this,” she said.