New York's Senate Bill 6617 would, if enacted, "require climate change instruction within the current established science curriculum ... [for] grades one through twelve in all public schools." Correspondingly, school authorities would be required to support such instruction. Introduced by James Sanders Jr. (D-District 10), on March 18, 2025, the bill was referred to the Senate Education Committee.
Senate Bill 5661 joins four previously introduced bills active in the New York legislature supporting climate change education: Assembly Bill 4876, Senate Bill 2430, Assembly Bill 1666, and Assembly Bill 1984. The bill is identical to Senate Bill 5561 from the 2023-2024 legislative session, Senate Bill 564 from the 2021-2022 legislative session, and Senate Bill 7676 from the 2019-2020 legislative session, all of which ultimately died in committee.
