Federal Legislation

U.S. Representative John Sarbanes (MD-3) and U.S. Senator Jack Reed (RI) introduced legislation to strengthen and expand environmental education in America's classrooms and reconnect children with nature. These bills, each titled the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 (H.R. 3036 and S. 1981), address the need for environmental education to be included in the next reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (No Child Left Behind). The No Child Left Inside Acts amend the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) in the following ways:  Provide federal funding to states to train teachers in environmental education and to operate model environmental education programs, which include outdoor learning. Provide funding to states that create environmental literacy plans to ensure that high school graduates are environmentally literate. Provide funding through an environmental education grant program to build state and national capacity. A two-page executive summary provides additional details.

The list of co-sponsors of No Child Left Inside in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate continues to grow every day. Please encourage your senators and representative to support the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 and help get its provisions included in the House and Senate bills that reauthorize the No Child Left Behind law. 

More than 200 organizations nationwide representing more than 20 million people have joined the No Child Left Inside Coalition. For more information about joining the Coalition, contact EEAO.

Read more about why we need the No Child Left Inside legislation here.