Environmental Education - Support in Congress

Legislation to improve environmental education in America’s public schools is gaining momentum in Congress and has picked up support from a coalition of more than 100 organizations representing more than 14 million members around the country, including the National Wildlife Federation and led by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The legislation, the No Child Left Inside Act, which amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (also known as No Child Left Behind), would provide significant new funding for states to strengthen environmental education – through high-quality teaching standards, teacher training and the creation of state environmental literacy plans, which would ensure that students have a solid grasp of environmental issues.

“We cannot expect the next generation to deal with the impacts of major conservation problems like global warming and habitat loss without a solid educational foundation about the natural world in which they live,” says Kevin Coyle, Vice President of Education for the National Wildlife Federation. “Leaving our children ill-equipped to deal with the potentially catastrophic consequences of global warming left behind by this generation, is adding insult to injury.”

The legislation represents a major new commitment to environmental instruction. According to environmental education organizations, one of the unintended consequences of No Child Left Behind, which was enacted five years ago, is that many schools have abandoned environmental education programs to invest more time and resources in math and reading instruction.

In the classroom, No Child Left Behind causes science teachers to bypass environmental science when it does not appear to relate directly to the high-stakes tests required by the law. Beyond the classroom, teachers have to forego valuable, hands-on field investigations rather than take time away from test-related instruction. In many cases, field trips and outdoor environmental activities have been entirely curtailed, leaving kids with no understanding of the complex environmental challenges confronting our country and the world.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that children today are so overscheduled and “plugged in” to electronic devices from computers to video games, that they are becoming completely disconnected from nature and the sense of wonder and excitement that come with it. Research has shown that if children don’t have any significant interaction with nature by the time they are 11 years old, it’s unlikely they will grow up caring about it or passing on any conservation values to their children.

“Without experiencing nature today, we won’t have any environmental stewards tomorrow,” continues Coyle.

A National Science Foundation panel noted in 2003 that “in the coming decades, the public will more frequently be called upon to understand complex environmental issues, assess risk, evaluate proposed environmental plans and understand how individual decisions affect the environment at local and global scales. Creating a scientifically informed citizenry requires a concerted, systemic approach to environmental education…”

To date, the No Child Left Inside Act has won support from major environmental organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, Audubon and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, as well as the National Education Association, business groups and health-related organizations, including the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In the House of Representatives, the legislation (H.R. 3036) is sponsored by Rep. John P. Sarbanes of Maryland and has bi-partisan support. In the Senate, S. 1981 is sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island.

According to the bill’s authors, the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law this year provides Congress with the opportunity to make changes that will strengthen the Act and better prepare students for real-world challenges and careers. No Child Left Behind must provide schools and school systems with the incentives, flexibility, and authority to develop and deliver valuable environmental education programs.

The name “No Child Left Inside” is used with permission of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

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