LETTER TO CONGRESS

Please Support the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007!

I am writing to urge you to support the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 (H.R.3036; S.1981). The No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 addresses critical environmental challenges by strengthening and expanding environmental education in America’s classrooms.

The No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 amends the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) in the following ways:

§         Provides federal funding to states to train teachers in environmental education and to operate model environmental education programs, which include outdoor learning.

§         Provides funding to states that create environmental literacy plans to ensure that high school graduates are environmentally literate.

§         Provides funding through an environmental education grant program to build state and national capacity.

§         Re-establishes the Office of Environmental Education within the U.S. Department of Education.

Our public schools must prepare young people for a future that presents increasingly complex environmental issues such as global climate change, air and water pollution, and the loss of ecologically sensitive habitat. To be environmentally literate, students must have a solid background in math, reading, science, and environmental education.

An unintended consequence of NCLB's emphasis on math and reading is that more and more schools are leaving environmental education behind. Many schools have largely abandoned environmental education programs to invest more time and resources in math and reading instruction. In the classroom, NCLB causes science teachers to bypass environmental science when it does not appear to relate directly to state tests. Beyond the classroom, administrators are directing teachers to forego valuable, hands-on field investigations rather than take time away from test-related instruction.

The No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 will go a long way toward advancing environmental education and giving it the attention it deserves. Please support the inclusion of environmental education in the NCLB reauthorization bill as proposed in the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 (H.R.3036; S.1981).  I look forward to hearing from you about your support of this important legislation. Thank you.