Leave No Child Inside legislation

(Reprinted from No Child Left Inside Coalition)

From the Desks of Senator Jack Reed and Representative John P. Sarbanes

May 23, 2008

To Members of the No Child Left Inside Coalition:

Because of your critical support and interest, we want to update you on our progress in advancing the No Child Left Inside (NCLI) Act.

Since we first introduced this legislation last year, the Coalition has helped make tremendous strides in rallying around, drawing attention to, and galvanizing support for this issue, which has helped us greatly in gaining support for NCLI in Congress. We now have 14 cosponsors of the Senate bill and 49 cosponsors of the House bill. We recently held two highly successful events: a press conference at the Capitol and a field hearing at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.

Now, we understand the Coalition has achieved a significant milestone of its own with the 300th organization joining its ranks – perhaps one of the largest coalitions of its kind. We congratulate you on this achievement. In our view, this underscores the powerful and growing public sentiment for promoting environmental and outdoor education in our nation’s schools.

There’s much more work to be done to ensure that the No Child Left Inside Act becomes law. The more cosponsors the bill gains and the more attention this issue attracts, the easier it will be for the respective Committees and the full Congress to approve the measure. We’re working hard to urge our colleagues to join us in this effort, bolstered greatly by groundwork that’s been laid by the Coalition outside Washington.

Again, thank you for the important work you do and your strong support for the No Child Left Inside Act.

Sincerely,

Senator Jack Reed and Representative John P. Sarbanes