No Child Left Inside Act
We’ve all heard about the No Child Left Behind law. Before the end of this year Congress will be re-ratifying this law. In its implementation, schools have been cutting back on math, science, and environmental education. A strong bipartisan coalition has formed in both the House and the Senate to add an amendment to the law, called the No Child Left Inside Act.

The No Child Left Inside Act addresses critical environmental challenges by strengthening and expanding environmental education in America’s classrooms 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.

To find out more about No Child Left Inside go to www.eeNCLB.org. By following the “Action links” you will find out what you can do to support this amendment on its way through Congress by contacting your own legislators.

As an act of advocacy this is entirely in line with our own Seeds For Education. It’s all about educating the next generations, preparing 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.

Wild Ones has signed on as a supporter of this measure. For more information, see www.for-wild.org/download/NoChildLeftInside.html.

Maryann is Editor of the Wild Ones Journal, and comes to the position with an extensive background in environmental matters of all kinds.

Return to the Grapevine page.