Senator Harkin, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) has announced that the committee will mark up a draft of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) on October 18. Congressional support for the NCLI Act is critical to ensuring that the HELP Committee includes environmental literacy in the draft legislation. Please help us to add additional co-sponsors to Senate Bill 1372 (the NCLI Act) by contacting your Senator today.
          It has always been the aim of the NCLI Act to embed support for implementation of state-wide environmental literacy plans into ESEA. With the Senate prepared to produce a reauthorization bill for ESEA this month, we must act now to show support for expanded environmental and outdoor education in our nation’s schools. Please let your Senator know that s/he can support this goal by cosponsoring the NCLI Act today.
          An ESEA that includes the provisions of the NCLI Act would support outdoor learning activities both at school and in non-formal environmental education centers, teacher professional development, and the implementation of state environmental literacy plans. By offering states increased flexibility to infuse environmental education into the preK-12 curriculum, the No Child Left Inside Act will give our nation’s students the knowledge they need to advance American competitiveness in a clean energy economy, help boost academic achievement, and offer a pipeline to success in STEM subjects.

From the No Child Left Inside Coalition

www.nclicoalition.org