In what has turned out to be one of the best years in Congress for environmental education, on September 18, the US House of Representative overwhelmingly and with strong bi-partisan support, passed the No Child Left Inside Act, H.R. 3036. Sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes and others, the bill’s passage represents one of only a few times in 18 years that Congress voted on environmental education and the first time in 27 years that they voted for the US Department of Education to be involved in environmental education.This legislation if enacted next year would strengthen environmental education experiences for schoolchildren both inside and outside of the nation’s classrooms and includes funding for training and support of EE programs, help with creating EE standards, encouragement of experts to work in the classrooms, and creation of a grant program to help create and strengthen EE programs. In short, it will help make students more “environmentally literate.”

We have been promoting this important issue with our Partners – working especially with the Campaign for Environmental Literacy and the No Child Left Inside Coalition, who with others, deserve great thanks for helping this happen!

Please send your Representative a quick thank you for their support, by clicking here.

Partners may also be interested in a recent Newsweek article, Getting an Early Start – Eco-education doesn’t have to be expensive, by Daniel Stone. The article highlights several successful green school initiatives from outdoor classrooms to green facilities and curriculum that have improved the quality and experience of education for students.