Policy & Issues
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Importance
Environmental education helps build “environmental literacy,” educating the public and increasing their likelihood to conserve and sustain forests and the environment. This type of learning also fosters innovation as an environmentally literate public begins to identify problems and conceive solutions to complex environmental challenges.
Additionally, environmental education in primary and secondary schools, especially with an outdoor learning component, has shown to dramatically improve overall student performance, particularly in science and math.
Project Learning Tree Policy
The American Forest Foundation (AFF), the national sponsor of PLT, supports policies that increase the awareness and understanding of forests and the environment and build the skills needed to conserve and sustain them. AFF encourages consideration be given to the need for public education, particularly elementary and secondary education, as a key component of any effort to improve our environment or conserve our natural resources.
About the Funding
The National Environmental Education Act of 1990 is the primary federal policy focused solely on environmental education. In addition, the primary source of federal funding resides in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Education. A number of other federal programs and policies within various Departments recognize the value of education to conservation, but the environmenal education issue is largely a component of larger, more holistic conservation programs.
As a way to boost environmental literacy, states have been working on environmental literacy plans, which outline state strategies and funding needs for state based efforts. Given the nation-wide trend of shrinking state governments, funding for environmental education is at risk of elimination. As an alternative, integrating environmental education into conservation and environmental policy offers promise for continuing to raise the environmental literacy of our children.
Policy Recommendations
We can increase our children’s exposure to environmental education.
1. Pass the No Child Left Inside Act
The No Child Left Inside Act was introduced by Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland to include environmental education as part of a new Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Their legislation provides funding for environmental education programs and professional development for educators in states with K-12 environmental literacy plans. It does not add any new mandates or testing requirements.
2. Appropriation Increases for Environmental Education
Funding for environmental education is low, despite the clear public and individual benefits it provides. We support maintaining appropriations for environmental education, including the National Environmental Education Act, the authorizations in the No Child Left Inside Act, and other federal environmental and conservation programs.
