Human rights are the foremost moral imperative because they are the basis of all human action and agency

Education- Impact (EXT: Human Rights)

Education free of discrimination is a fundamental human right – failure to uphold it erodes other human rights

People’s Movement for Human Rights Education, 1997

http://www.pdhre.org/rights/education.html
Every woman, man, youth and child has the human right to education, training and information, and to other fundamental human rights dependent upon realization of the human right to education. The human right of all persons to education is explicitly set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other widely adhered to international human rights treaties and Declarations -- powerful tools that must be put to use in realizing the human right to education for all! The Human Rights at Issue The human right to education entitles (ALL)every woman, man, youth and child to: The human right to free and compulsory elementary education and to readily available forms of secondary and higher education. The human right to freedom from discrimination in all areas and levels of education, and to equal access to continuing education and vocational training. The human right to information about health, nutrition, reproduction and family planning. The human right to education is inextricably linked to other fundamental human rights -- rights that are universal, indivisible, interconnected and interdependent including: The human right to equality between men and women and to equal partnership in the family and society. The human right to work and receive wages that contribute to an adequate standard of living. The human right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief. The human right to an adequate standard of living. The human right to participate in shaping decisions and policies affecting one=s community, at the local, national and international levels.

Education- Impact (Overpop)

Educational opportunity is critical to reduce global population growth

Emily Hannum, Professor of Sociology at Penn, 2003

“The Consequences of Global Educational Expansion: Social Science Perspectives” http://www.amacad.org/publications/monographs/Ubase.pdf
The association between education and fertility is well established. Based on recent data for countries with DHS surveys, Figure 4 shows the average number of children born to women ages 40–49 by educational attainment. These graphs show a dominant pattern in which women with education, and especially secondary and higher education, tend to have substantially fewer children by the end of their childbearing years. The negative relationship between education, particularly secondary education, and fertility is also evident in national aggregate data. Estimates in Table 1 indicate that a 10 percent expansion in primary gross enrollment ratios leads to an average reduction in the total fertility rate of 0.1 children; the corresponding increase in secondary enrollment ratios is associated with a reduction of 0.2 children (column 4).

This will cause extinction of all humans

PALM BEACH POST, November 5, 1995, p. 5J. (DRGCL/C168)

Education- Impact (Science Literacy)

Poor performing urban schools are forced to teach to tests – this prevents the study of science

Jonathan Kozol, former school teacher and academic extraordinaire, 2005

Shame of the Nation : The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America. Westminster, MD, USA: Crown Publishing Group, 2005. p 118

There is another way in which the students in increasing numbers of our low-performing urban schools are being penalized by the insistent pressure to deliver higher scores on standardized exams. In many of these schools, traditional subjects such as history, geography, and science are no longer taught because they are not tested by highstakes examinations and cannot contribute to the scores by which a school’s performance will be praised or faulted. Anyone who talks informally with children in some of these elementary schools is likely to discover quickly the effects that this has had in limiting their capability for ordinary cultural discernments.

Quality education about science in grade school through high school is critical in order to get people into the fields

United States Government Accountability Office, Report to the Chairman, Committee on Rules, House of Representatives; Higher education;Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Programs and Related

Trends. October 2005 http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:cnzQN07yLu0J:www.gao.gov/new.items/d06114.pdf+%22science+education%22+%22US+technology%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a
Educators and others cited several factors as influencing students’ decisions about pursuing STEM degrees and occupations, and they suggested many ways to encourage more participation in STEM fields. Studies, education experts, university officials, and others cited teacher quality at the kindergarten through 12th grade levels and students’ high school preparation in mathematics and science courses as major factors that influence domestic students’ decisions about pursuing STEM degrees and occupations. In addition, university officials, students, and studies identified mentoring as a key factor for women and minorities. Also, according to university officials, education experts, and reports, international students’ decisions about pursuing STEM degrees and occupations in the United States are influenced by yet other factors, including more stringent visa requirements and increased educational opportunities outside the United States. We have reported that several aspects of the visa process have been improved, but further steps could be taken. In order to promote participation in the STEM fields, officials at most of the eight universities visited and current students offered suggestions that focused on four areas: teacher quality, mathematics and science preparation and courses, outreach to underrepresented groups, and the federal role in STEM education. The students who responded to our e-mail survey generally agreed with most of the suggestions and expressed their desires for better mathematics and science preparation for college. However, before adopting such suggestions, it is important to know the extent to which existing STEM education programs are appropriately targeted and making the best use of available federal resources.

Scientific literacy ensures the prevention of pollution, environmental destruction, and conflict

Daniel Gil-Pérez & Amparo Vilches, Universitat de Valencia, Spain. Contribution of Science and technological Education to Citizens’ Culture, Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 5(2), 2005, 253-263

This rejection of technological innovations whose medium and long-term effects remain unknown does not imply any hindrance to the development of research or to the introduction of well-tested innovations. For instance, ecologist opinion is not opposed to research with embryonic ‘mother cells’. On the contrary, in many countries, ecologist associations are supporting the scientific community’s fight against the current interdiction of this research in response to pressure from fundamentalist lobby groups. Citizen participation in decision-making should be seen as entirely positive, a guarantee of application of the precautionary principle. It reflects growing social sensibility to the risks of insufficiently tested innovations and the pursuit of short-term private interests at the expense of the wider public good. To make responsible participation a reality, the problems and options need to be well understood by everyone. Of course, this entails a minimum level of scientific literacy on the part of all citizens. It also requires that the relevant issues are presented to the public in readily accessible language, in contrast to the tendency to discourage public participation by emphasizing the great difficulty and complexity of problems such as the greenhouse effect and climate change. Of course, profound and rigorous scientific studies are needed, but they are not sufficient in themselves to ensure good decisions. Frequently, the greatest difficulty lies not in a lack of knowledge but in the absence of a global approach that can assess risks and analyze possible effects in the medium and long-term. These are the reasons why we stand for the techno-scientific literacy of all citizens – a literacy that has become absolutely necessary in the current situation of planetary emergency (Bybee, 1991; Orr, 1995), marked by an array of very serious and closely-related problems: pollution and environmental degradation, depletion of natural resources, unsustainable demographic growth, extreme inequalities among human groups, destructive conflicts, loss of biological and cultural diversity, and so on. This planetary emergency is largely driven by the pursuit of short-term private benefits without taking into account the consequences for others or for future generations (Gil-Pérez et al., 2003).

Extinction results from environmental destruction – the impact is bigger than a nuclear war

Richard Tobin, associate professor of political science at SUNY-Buffalo, 1990, The Expendable Future: U.S. Politics and the Protection of Biological Diversity, p. 13-14

Every time a human contributes to a species’ extinction, a range of choices and opportunities is either eliminated or diminished. The demise of the last pupfish might have appeared inconsequential, but the eradication of other species could mean that an undiscovered cure for some cancers has been carelessly discarded. The extinction of a small bird, an innocent amphibian, or an unappealing plant might disrupt an ecosystem, increased the incidence and areal distribution of a disease, preclude the discovery of new industrial products, prevent the natural recycling of some wastes, or destroy a source of easily grown and readily available food. By way of analogy, the anthropo-genic extinction of a plant or animal can be compared to the senseless destruction of a priceless Renaissance painting or to the burning of an irreplaceable book that has never been opened. In an era when many people believe that limits to development are being tested or even breached, can humans afford to risk an expendable future, to squander the infinite potential that species offer, and to waste nature’s ability and willingness to provide inexpensive solutions to many of humankind’s problems? Many scientists do not believe so, and they are fearful of the consequences of anthropogenic extinctions. These scientists quickly admit their ignorance of the biological consequences of most individual extinctions, but widespread agreement exists that massive anthropogenic extinctions can bring catastrophic results. In fact, when compared to all other environmental problems, human-caused extinctions are likely to be of far greater concern. Extinction is the permanent destruction of unique life forms and the only irreversible ecological change that humans can cause. No matter what the effort or sincerity of intentions, extinct species can never be replaced. “From the standpoint of permanent despoliation of the planet,” Norman Meyers observes, no other form of environmental degradation “is anywhere so significant as the fallout of species.” Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson is less modest in assessing the relative consequences of human-caused extinctions. To Wilson, the worst thing that will happen to earth is not economic collapse, the depletion of energy supplies, or even nuclear war. As frightful as these events might be, Wilson reasons that they can “be repaired within a few generations. The one process ongoing…that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by destruction of natural habitats.” David Ehrenfeld succinctly summarizes the problem and the need for a solution: “We are masters of extermination, yet creation is beyond our powers… Complacency in the face of this terrible dilemma is inexcusable.” Ehrenfeld wrote these words in the early 1970s. Were he to write today he would likely add a note of dire urgency. If scientists are correct in their assessments of current extinctions and reasonably confident about extinction rates in the near future, then a concerted and effective response to human-caused extinctions is essential. The chapters that follow evaluate that response in the United States

Education- Impact (Science Literacy I/L)

Case solves for the lack of Science advanced education occurring

United States Government Accountability Office, Report to the Chairman, Committee on Rules, House of Representatives; Higher education;Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Programs and Related

Trends. October 2005 http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:cnzQN07yLu0J:www.gao.gov/new.items/d06114.pdf+%22science+education%22+%22US+technology%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a
University officials, researchers, and students identified several factors that influenced students’ decisions about pursuing STEM degrees and occupations, and they suggested some ways to encourage more participation in STEM fields. Specifically, university officials said and researchers reported that the quality of teachers in kindergarten through 12th grades and the levels of mathematics and science courses completed during high school affected students’ success in and decisions about STEM fields. In addition, several sources noted that mentoring played a key role in the participation of women and minorities in STEM fields. Current students from five universities we visited generally agreed with these observations, and several said that having good mathematics and science instruction was important to their overall educational success. International students’ decisions about participating in STEM education and occupations were affected by opportunities outside the United States and the visa process. To encourage more student participation in the STEM fields, university officials, researchers, and others have made several suggestions, and four were made repeatedly. These suggestions focused on teacher quality, high school students’ math and science preparation, outreach activities, and the federal role in STEM education

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