NCLI Coalition Announces "Major Victory" for Environmental Literacy

The following statement was released from the No Child Left Inside Coalition on February 2, 2010.

Environmental Literacy included in Obama's new Education Budget: Historic First

We just logged a major victory for No Child Left Inside, perhaps our most significant. President Obama’s budget that was released Monday, February 1, includes environmental literacy in the U.S. Department of Education budget for the very first time. We now have the Obama administration officially on our side, and better yet, we're in their budget.

President Obama and Secretary Duncan have made innovation and student achievement a major platform of this Administration and as a result have included environmental literacy in a new program. The proposed budget includes $1.0 billion for a new Effective Teaching and Learning for a Complete Education program designed to improve instruction to support college- and career-readiness standards, in part through the use of technology to deliver high-quality content.

The new program includes three components:

1. Literacy: $450 million, an increase of $36.7 million, to consolidate seven existing Elementary and Secondary Education Act programs into a new program that would help states and local education authorities improve literacy skills by supporting professional development and improved instructional materials.

2. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): $300 million, an increase of $119.5 million or 66 percent, to expand the Federal investment in improved teaching and learning of STEM disciplines, especially in high-need schools and school systems, and prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers.

3. A Well-Rounded Education: $265 million, an increase of $38.9 million or 17 percent, to consolidate seven current authorities and expand support for the subjects important to a complete curriculum, including: history, the arts, foreign languages, environmental literacy, and economic and financial literacy.

What does it mean? In the short term, it means that we can expect President Obama’s education bill (Elementary and Secondary Education Act, formerly known as No Child Left Behind) to include language from the No Child Left Inside Act, which will help force the hand of Congress, where we already have 87 House cosponsors and 17 Senate cosponsors. We still have a great deal of work to do, and we will continue to count on you to take action and stay involved. In the meantime, congratulations to all of you—you made this happen!

While this is a only one step in the process, it is a big one. Thank YOU! View a related story published in The Washington Post.