[PCA] HOUSE PASSES 'NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE'

larry.morse.dc at earthlink.net larry.morse.dc at earthlink.net
Wed Oct 1 08:43:35 CDT 2008


> AIBS Public Policy Report September 29, 2008:
>
> HOUSE PASSES NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE
>
> In an effort to prepare students for the workforce of the 21st century
and combat "nature-deficit disorder," the House passed the No Child Left
Inside Act of 2008 (H.R. 3036) on 18 September by a vote of 293-109.  The
legislation, if passed by the Senate, would reauthorize the National
Environmental Education Act (NEAA) of 1990 at a level of $14 million for
fiscal year (FY) 2009.  Current amendments call for the enhancement of
teacher training and professional development, the encouragement of
minorities to pursue environmental careers, and the recruitment of
mid-career environmental professionals to consider employment in
environmental education.
>
> Representative John Sarbanes (D-MD), the bill's sponsor, stated, "Through
the passage of this legislation, we've made real progress in ensuring that
environmental education becomes a priority in our schools."
>
> No Child Left Inside would establish a "national capacity environmental
education grant program" to encourage the development of programs which
"help the field of environmental education become more effective and widely
practiced."  If passed by the Senate and signed by the President, these
environmental education grants could be used for the development of state
environmental literacy plans, implementing academic standards and
curricula, evaluating the effectiveness of environmental education programs
in improving student's scores in other academic areas, and increasing the
number of environmental educators in elementary and secondary schools. 
Although this grant program would supplement other sources of environmental
education funding, the act would not authorize a specific funding level for
these grants for the next fiscal year.
>
> The NEEA of 1990 authorized funding for environmental education by way of
the Environmental Protection Agency through the 1996 fiscal year.  Since FY
1996, Congress has continued to fund this program without passing
reauthorization legislation.  Beginning with FY 2003, the presidential
budget request has continually eliminated this program because it was no
longer authorized, only to have it restored by Congress.  Funding levels
for the program have ranged from $5.3 to 9.1 million during the FY
2003-2008.  The FY 2009 budget request did not include funds for
environmental education.


Larry Morse
Washington, D.C.
larry.morse.dc at earthlink.net
(Larry.E.Morse at LEM-Natural-Diversity.com)
(202)-543-2488
< http://www.lem-natural-diversity.com/ >






More information about the native-plants mailing list