White House Summit on Environmental Education
4/16/2012
The Story
GOOD NEWS: This morning, at the first-ever White House Summit on Environmental Education, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the formation of an interagency task force on Environmental Education, to be co-led by EPA and the U.S. Departments of Education and Interior.
Many in the environmental education community—including hundreds of members of the national No Child Left Inside Coalition—have previously encouraged the Administration to create such a taskforce, particularly in light of budget cuts to key federal environmental education programs in fiscal year 2013.
In another positive move, Administrator Jackson also committed $5 million in EPA funds for environmental education in next year’s budget, to include money for teacher professional development, grants to schools, and funding for the National Environmental Education Foundation.
Few details regarding the newly formed taskforce are immediately available, but sources at the Summit say participation is likely to be at the Deputy Secretary level, indicating the Administration is giving high priority to a coordinated and cohesive plan for increasing environmental education opportunities and expanding the role of the Department of Education in achieving that goal.
Stay tuned for more details as they emerge!