No Child Left Inside Act Gains Momentum

The No Child Left Inside Act (H.R. 3036 and S. 1981) made huge strides in the 110th Congress, especially in the House of Representatives. This legislation, championed by Senator Jack Reed (RI) and Congressman John Sarbanes (MD), seeks to enhance environmental education in our nation’s elementary and secondary schools.

On September 18, 2008, the leadership in the House of Representatives made environmental education a priority by bringing the bill to the House floor for three hours of debate and a roll call vote. Ultimately, the House passed the No Child Left Inside Act with an overwhelmingly bi-partisan vote of 293-109.

Thanks to the League of Conservative Voters (LCV) this important House vote is getting some extra attention. LCV publishes an annual “National Environmental Scorecard,” a non-partisan report card that ranks Members of Congress according to their voting record on environmental legislation. For the first time LCV “scored” a vote on environmental education legislation – The No Child Left Inside Act – sending a signal to Capitol Hill about the importance of environmental education to the environmental and conservation community.

Passage of the House bill as well as the numerous, bi-partisan co-sponsors supporting the Senate bill, provide great momentum as we move into the 111th Congress and seek to pass the bill in both the House and Senate. The No Child Left Inside Coalition has launched a citizen’s petition to keep momentum rolling and provide an opportunity for individuals to take action. As always, organizations are encouraged to join the growing coalition that now represents over 1,000 members.

North Dakota Establishes Outdoor Learning Centers

The Grand Forks Herald published an article titled "Environmental Education: New era in outdoors learning" over the weekend, as well as an Opinion Piece by Tom Dennis. There are plans for three state-designated Outdoor Learning Centers in North Dakota, one of which will be located at Turtle River State Park, near Larimore, ND. According to Steve Crandall, manager of Turtle River State Park, “The idea was to bring the schools into the outdoors. This is an opportunity to bring kids into an outdoor classroom instead of bringing someone from outside into the classroom to teach.”

It is exciting to see the state of North Dakota making environmental learning centers and hands-on environmental education a priority by investing in the necessary staff to make these centers a reality. While state budgets are tight nationwide, North Dakota clearly recognizes that the education and health beneftis of environmental education and time outdoors are well worth the investment!