Open Congress : Comments on H.R. 2054: No Child Left Inside Act of 2009 2009-12-19T08:45:08Z,2007:/bill/comments/56848 New comment by missjess 2009-12-19T08:45:08Z,2009-12-19:/comment/178550 missjess no child left inside is not about climate change education - nowhere in this bill or the overview of it are the words "climate change" written. the "environment" encompasses water, air, soil/land, plants, animals, etc. - all things that we humans depend on for our very existence. this bill and the environmental education/literacy it is promoting is not about "indoctrinating" our children in any way, shpae or form - it is about getting them to understand the interconnectedness of earth's systems and, as such, understand and internalize the value of the environment, the lack of which has lead us to to decimate our shared, global commons, e.g., our forests, our fish stocks, our water supplies. futhermore, this nation was founded with the help of a rugged, pioneering, wilderness-oriented mindset - getting students to appreciate our environment, especially through hands-on learning and experience in the great outdoors, is one of the best ways to reconnect our nation with its past ideals. New comment by missjess 2009-12-19T09:03:07Z,2009-12-19:/comment/178559 missjess additionally, environmental education is not just about science - it easily extends into and can accentuate studies of math, reading, history, economics, you name it. more often than not, environmental education increases skills in all of these areas, because the environment is something that surrounds us and is tangible and accessible, that we can experience for ourselves, all of which helps to increase the understanding and apply lessons to the real world of abstract topics like, e.g., math. New comment by nukified 2010-03-04T10:31:47Z,2010-03-04:/comment/187847 nukified Nowhere in the Constitution does it give the right for the federal government to control education policy.. but secondly, NCLB is not about climate education, but about forcing schools to teach for the test... NOT GOOD AT ALL... if we want to truly bring up bright minds in this country, then repealing NCLB is our best option, not amending it... We need to teach people to go into some of the critical fields: science, tech, math, etc... NCLB keeps the smartest kids from reaching higher goals and has the smartest ones just taught well enough to do well on the NCLB test, not for things they will need to know or be later tested on in college.. This should be struck down immediately, alongside NCLB as a whole. New comment by Templar 2009-08-20T12:46:59Z,2009-08-20:/comment/120421 Templar There are entirely too many kids in high school who can barely read and do basic math. Instead of concentrating on the environment at a young age, kids should be encouraged to learn the basics. Environment can be an elective in high school. New comment by dankennedy73 2010-06-24T07:48:42Z,2010-06-24:/comment/199739 dankennedy73 The comments here and lack of support on this bill from the Right is indicitve of the right-wing conservative stance against education, intellectualism, and just good old fasion COMMON SENSE. New comment by Roycallahan 2009-09-14T17:56:12Z,2009-09-14:/comment/125979 Roycallahan Public schools do not do a good job of teaching your children how to read, write, do math and revised American history. You have to be stuck on stupid to teach more illiteracy and supplant it with this garbage. New comment by SignOfTheDollar 2009-07-02T11:23:53Z,2009-07-02:/comment/111990 SignOfTheDollar More Pork for the Eco-Industrial Complex. New comment by lxtkn1989 2009-08-05T19:45:06Z,2009-08-05:/comment/116454 lxtkn1989 Actually, if you take a look, it's more a science education bill disguised as an Environmental Bill. Personally, I support teaching students about things like Biology and Environmental Sciences. That's where jobs are going, science backgrounds. Currently the US lags behind the world in Science Education, that means that jobs go elsewhere. How are we ever going to form a healthy economy that doesn't drive itself into the ground every few years if all the jobs go elsewhere because American Students aren't educated enough to take them? New comment by missrachelkate 2009-08-17T19:54:12Z,2009-08-17:/comment/119857 missrachelkate I'm wondering how anyone could possibly oppose this bill. Students receive a better education about very real environmental issues... which would most certainly lead to them taking action to stop harming the environment, from starting at home to thinking critically about the bigger issues we face. How could this be a bad thing? I'd like someone to answer me that. How could this possibly do HARM? New comment by ajic 2009-11-22T09:08:30Z,2009-11-22:/comment/171149 ajic I agree. Of course, on the other hand, no one would take it unless they already knew they wanted to do that for a living. Nobody wants to learn math until they know what it's good for, so we might as well tell them. Priorities are important, though. New comment by ajic 2009-11-22T09:11:08Z,2009-11-22:/comment/171150 ajic Isn't that what school systems are for? to make sure teachers are teaching the right things? Why do they get payed for that if the federal government does it instead? New comment by fortermlimits 2009-10-31T16:02:34Z,2009-10-31:/comment/157723 fortermlimits Sounds like more indoctrination to me. Govt needs to get out of the schools and let the teachers teach and run their classrooms. New comment by UlyssesPro 2009-10-09T05:14:07Z,2009-10-09:/comment/138859 UlyssesPro Good in theory, but No Child Left Behind needs to be immediately repealed and teachers need to be given control of their classrooms. If science teachers want to meet tomorrow's environmental needs by working with it in the classroom, they should be able to with or without this bill. Get the Fed. Gov. out of education and back to something that they have constitutional powers to do such as balance the budget or manage the two wars we are losing. New comment by Kerrick 2010-12-12T18:49:26Z,2010-12-12:/comment/222076 Kerrick While I agree that states' rights are important, the federal government has its fingers in education via No Child Left Behind. New comment by FallenMorgan 2009-08-17T07:04:00Z,2009-08-17:/comment/119678 FallenMorgan Mind reading the Tenth Amendment? What part of the Constitution gives education to the federal government? New comment by Constitutionalist1 2009-10-25T10:47:14Z,2009-10-25:/comment/150845 Constitutionalist1 Oh no! The sky is falling and the temperature is sky rocketing! If we don't indoctrinate these kids with delusions of global warming, we are all doomed! I must say that FallenMorgan said it to the "T" New comment by thinkyouaremelting 2009-08-13T09:51:47Z,2009-08-13:/comment/118215 thinkyouaremelting This sounds like it has the potential to be a very beneficial bill. Nature-deficit disorder is serious, and what better way to aid this than by in-school outdoor activities. As our children are spending more time indoors playing video games or being mesmerized by the television, they may only get this kind of "therapy" at school. Not only will they be outside, but thinking critically about what humans are doing to the environment. The confines of a secure home does not grant them this opportunity. And, clearly, this is leading to a populace that increasingly cannot critically think and are some of the poorest educated in science in the developed world. Time to change!