We recently learned about H.R. 2054, better known as the No Child Left Inside Act of 2009. The bill was introduced to the House of Representatives in April of this year by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and is seeking to increase the environmental literacy of the nation’s children. In recent years, environmental education has been severely lacking in K-12 education as public schools devote more class time to subjects included in aptitude testing (and their test results).
This is the third introduction of the No Child Left Inside Act, after failing in 2007 and 2008. The current bill has the support of the No Child Left Inside Coalition and the National Wildlife Federation, as well as the support and early adoption by a handful of states (Connecticut and Washington, to name a few). If passed, the NCLI Act would require state governments to create environmental literacy plans for all K-12 education, and offer grants for professional development in environmental education and the related curriculum development and research.
At the heart of the supporters’ argument is that environmental education provides an inter-disciplinary education, strengthens problem-solving skills and awareness, in addition to creating community partnerships and the “capacity for stewardship and good citizenship.”
Currently, the bill has been referred to the Sub-Committee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Read more about the bill on the NCLI Coalition’s website and follow the latest updates on the issue via their Twitter feed. (Daily Hiker is on Twitter too!)
