U.S. Senator Susan Collins recently announced that she has drafted a letter to Senate appropriators requesting $9 million in funding for the Office of Environmental Education at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The funding will be used to provide small grants to schools, universities, museums, zoos, aquariums, and local governments for environmental funding. Senator Collins was joined by a bipartisan group of nine other senators in making the request.
“This is important funding,” noted Senator Collins. “This funding will help organizations succeed at educating the next generation about the importance of the environment.”
In its history, the EPA has awarded well over 3,000 of these small grants to educational institutions.
A full text of the letter follows:
Dear Chairman Feinstein and Ranking Member Craig:
We are writing to thank you for your support of the Office of Environmental Education at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and respectfully request that you continue this support by providing level funding of $9 million for fiscal year (FY) 2009.
This program has a notable track record of success, and provides indispensable tools for teachers, museum staff, business leaders, health care professionals, meteorologists and others responsible for educating young people, employees and others about the environment. EPA’s Environmental Education programs meet the highest standards for educational rigor and scientific accuracy.
Funds are allocated under The National Environmental Education Act to the EPA’s Office of Environmental Education, the Teacher Awards Program, the Environmental Education & Training Partnership (EETAP) teacher-training program, and the National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF). EPA has awarded well over 3,000 small grants to schools universities, museums, zoos, aquariums and local governments. The Environmental Education & Training Partnership has provided training to over 100,000 educators with an emphasis on professional certification and skills development. Through the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), $10.9 million leveraged grant dollars for environmental education has been awarded. In addition to challenge grants, NEEF also serves as a private non-profit organization to bring together partners with common interests in understanding and addressing environmental literacy.
Fully, 95 percent of American adults and 96 percent of parents support environmental education being taught in the schools according to an environment survey conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide. Environmental Education is strongly endorsed by the 60,000 member National Science Teachers Association because it provides “context learning” for students to absorb abstract scientific principles by seeing them in a real world context. Students who are well-grounded in environmental education understand scientific principles better and test better in science.
Environmental education programs help insure that environmental education remains balanced and based in good science.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
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