Political Quotes

“today I am introducing bipartisan legislation to provide new support for environmental education in our Nation's classrooms. I thank Senators Kirk, Bingaman, Cardin, Durbin, Gillibrand, Kerry, Lautenberg, Mikulski, Murray, Sanders, and Whitehouse for agreeing to be original cosponsors of the No Child Left Inside Act of 2011. Given the major environmental challenges we face today, our bill seeks to prioritize teaching our young people about their natural world. For more than three decades, environmental education has been a growing part of effective instruction in America's schools. Responding to the need to improve student achievement and prepare students for the 21st century economy, many schools throughout the Nation now offer some form of environmental education. Yet, environmental education is facing a significant challenge. Many schools are being forced to scale back or eliminate environmental programs. As a result, fewer and fewer students are able to take part in related classroom instruction and field investigations, however effective or popular. State and local administrators, teachers, and environmental educators point to two factors behind this recent and disturbing shift: the unintended consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act and dwindling sources of funding for these critical programs. The legislation that we are introducing today would address these two concerns.…”