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Washington, DC -- Earth Day was celebrated with outdoor and experiential learning, as Congressman John Sarbanes joined with his colleagues from Congress, area school children, national environmental leaders and the Governor of Maryland to showcase the benefits of environmental education at an “outdoor” Congressional Field Hearing. The hearing, held on the grounds of the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, focused on Sarbanes’ “No Child Left Inside” Act, which is part of a national movement to promote healthier children and communities and inspire the next generation of environmentally-conscious citizens through environmental education.
“This is an investment in our environmental future,” said Congressman Sarbanes (MD-03). “It’s about getting our young people away from video games and television and into nature so they can appreciate its value firsthand.”
“It was a thrill to celebrate Earth Day with the environmental leaders of today and tomorrow,” said Sarbanes. “We learned what we can do in our schools, our communities and as a nation to ensure that our children have the tools and skills they need to be our next generation of environmental stewards.”
The NCLI Act stems from the notion that environmental education in our schools can help us as individuals make the complex, conceptual connections between economic prosperity, benefits to society, environmental health, and our own well being. Please see the attached summary for more details on the measure.
Summary of Environmental Education Changes Sought in NCLB through the No Child Left Inside Act
1. Title V – Create a separate Environmental Education grant program to help build national and state capacity
At the national and state level there is a need to build the “educational infrastructure” necessary to support environmental education. This section will provide funds for states to develop, improve, and advance environmental education standards. It will also support the development of new state-level private/public financing sources and dissemination of proven environmental educational models and studies of national significance.
Title V – Include Environmental Education as an Authorized Program in the Fund for the Improvement of Education
The Fund for the Improvement of Education is an important source of funding for states and school superintendents, and is only available for specified activities. Including environmental education as an authorized use for these funds will enable more funding to flow to environmental education programs. The Environmental Education Grants program authorizes the use of funds for the following activities:
a. teacher training in Environmental Education - Create a separate environmental education grant program for teacher training which is modeled on the Math/Science
b. identifies Environmental Education as an eligible activity for the existing pool of teacher training funds - Partnerships to ensure that a sufficient number of qualified teachers are available to teach these courses and programs while strengthening existing environmental education teacher training programs.
c. State Environmental Literacy Plans – states participating in the Environmental Education Grants Program are strongly encouraged to develop and submit a K-12 plan to ensure that high school graduates are environmentally literate. States will submit implementation status reports.
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