November 2, 2009
The Honorable Arne Duncan
Secretary of Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202
Dear Secretary Duncan:
As you consider strategies to strengthen the Elementary and Secondary Education Act this Congress, we would like to call to your attention an important bipartisan initiative known as No Child Left Inside (NCLI). The NCLI initiative supports environmental education in the nation’s elementary and secondary schools to improve student achievement, promote student engagement in learning, and better prepare our children for college and 21st century careers. NCLI initiatives have already been adopted in many states, and federal legislation, known as the No Child Left Inside Act, was introduced as H.R. 2054 and S. 866 during the 111th Congress and passed by the House of Representatives as H.R. 3036 during the 110th Congress.
As governors, we view environmental education as critical to the future success of our children. Collectively, the nation’s governors have adopted an education policy that states “[i]n today’s competitive global economy, our education system must prepare students to be successful in work, in life, and in an ever and rapidly changing world.” (ECW-02, last updated 2/24/09). To achieve the goals set forth in this policy, the undersigned governors believe that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act should be amended to make environmental education an integral part of the curriculum and to support state programs that provide these educational programs. The National Science Foundation supports these goals. In 2003, a Foundation panel declared that, "in the coming decades, the public will more frequently be called upon to understand complex environmental issues, assess risk, evaluate proposed environmental plans and understand how individual decisions affect the environment at local and global scales. Creating a scientifically informed citizenry requires a concerted, systemic approach to environmental education…"
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