A loophole that would have allowed students to get around a new state environmental education law is now closed, thanks to the Maryland No Child Left Inside Coalition. (There are many places you should not leave your child, but lawmakers are mostly concerned with “behind” and “inside.” Try to avoid hot cars and carnivals, too.)
The state board of education voted in September to make in-depth environmental education a mandatory part of local districts’ PreK-12 curricula — think “Flow of Matter and Energy” and “Humans and Natural Resources,” not just “Plant the Seed in the Plastic Cup.” Students also were required to complete a “local action” project to improve the natural environment.
But critics swiftly pointed out that local districts could claim they were covering enviro-education in their traditional biology and social studies classes. After a letter-writing campaign from the Maryland No Child Left Inside Coalition, the state board approved a regulation on Tuesday spurring local boards to meet the new standards.
Coalition director Don Baugh told the Associated Press that “Maryland residents support environment education and realize its potential to engage, instruct and ultimately provide employment for students.”
