[ti:Getting Schools Not Just to Go Green but Teach It, Too]
[ar:Bob Doughty]
[al:Education Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA 
[00:01.81]Special English 
[00:02.86]Education Report.
[00:04.89]Charter schools operate 
[00:07.45]with public money but 
[00:09.61]without many of the rules 
[00:11.17]that govern traditional 
[00:12.78]public schools. 
[00:14.18]In the United States 
[00:16.47]the rules for charter schools 
[00:18.97]differ from state to state. 
[00:21.77]But in general these schools 
[00:24.46]have greater freedom 
[00:25.76]to decide what to teach 
[00:28.21]and how to teach it.
[00:30.55]A charter school 
[00:32.74]might be independent 
[00:34.43]or connected to the local 
[00:36.92]public school system. 
[00:38.76]It might be started 
[00:40.41]by teachers, parents, 
[00:42.70]community groups or, 
[00:44.39]in some cases, 
[00:45.49]a profit-making business.
[00:47.80]The "charter" is a 
[00:49.91]performance contract. 
[00:51.66]It establishes the goals 
[00:53.90]of the school and 
[00:55.70]other details like 
[00:57.25]how student performance 
[00:58.98]will be measured. 
[01:00.08]Forty-seven million students 
[01:03.57]attend traditional public schools. 
[01:06.70]But more than a million students 
[01:09.70]attend charter schools.
[01:11.75]And now a group of 
[01:14.44]charter schools have formed 
[01:16.48]the Green Charter Schools Network. 
[01:19.11]The idea is to have 
[01:21.92]environmentally friendly 
[01:24.16]school buildings but to also 
[01:26.27]go further than that.
[01:27.68]The schools teach students 
[01:30.59]to become involved 
[01:32.08]in community issues 
[01:33.83]that affect them 
[01:35.22]and the environment. 
[01:36.96]For example, 
[01:38.35]young children grow crops 
[01:41.14]in a school garden and 
[01:43.40]learn about healthy eating. 
[01:45.24]Older students 
[01:47.19]help recycle waste 
[01:48.70]from the cafeteria. 
[01:50.71]And local schools share 
[01:52.80]what they grow
[01:53.75]in community gardens 
[01:55.00]with people in need.
[01:56.75]Jim McGrath is president of
[01:59.98]the Green Charter Schools Network. 
[02:02.83]He says there are 
[02:05.17]about two hundred 
[02:07.01]"green" charter schools 
[02:08.25]across the United States. 
[02:10.56]He says the plan is to also 
[02:13.52]include traditional public schools 
[02:16.23]as well as private schools.
[02:18.98]"The most important thing 
[02:20.24]is that every one of us 
[02:21.70]-- every child, every adult 
[02:23.19]-- has a responsibility 
[02:25.68]that their action, 
[02:28.52]every action we make 
[02:29.91]has an effect on the earth 
[02:31.13]that we live in. 
[02:32.72]And that our natural resources 
[02:34.18]are not inexhaustible. 
[02:35.89]And that if we want 
[02:37.93]a positive earth 
[02:39.25]for future generations, 
[02:41.26]we all need to make commitments 
[02:43.52]to be change agents so that 
[02:45.46]we don't destruct our natural resources."
[02:48.05]The Green Charter Schools Network 
[02:49.89]holds its first national conference 
[02:53.02]this October in Minnesota. 
[02:55.56]It will include companies 
[02:58.00]and organizations like 
[03:00.26]Waste Management 
[03:01.10]and the United States 
[03:03.26]Green Building Council. 
[03:05.27]Supporters of green schools say 
[03:09.06]their goal is to expand 
[03:11.15]the movement across the country.
[03:13.26]And that's the VOA Special English 
[03:17.49]Education Report, 
[03:18.93]written by Nancy Steinbach. 
[03:21.02]Is your school doing 
[03:23.26]anything special to "go green"? 
[03:25.42]You can tell the world 
[03:27.88]by posting a comment at 51voa.com. 
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[03:52.20]I'm Bob Doughty.