Welcome

=Final version= Attached is the final version that will be submitted to the Kentucky Board of Education at their December meeting. = = =**10/21 Legislative Update**= Tonight, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) completed its mark up of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). During the mark up hearing, the committee accepted an amendment put forth by Senator Casey (PA) that proposed a new grant program entitled “Well-Rounded Education” which includes environmental education as a subject eligible for funding under Title IV of ESEA. This marks an historic shift in federal education policy and is a significant and critical step towards our collective goal of ensuring access to high quality environmental and outdoor education programs for all students.

This is only one more step, but it is a __big__ step in the right direction. Senator Harkin, Chairman of the HELP Committee, has indicated his interest in bringing the ESEA legislation to the Senate floor for a vote in the coming weeks. We will be closely monitoring this process and pursuing all opportunities to work with our sponsor, Senator Jack Reed (RI) to build on our success and pursue additional opportunities to advance environmental literacy through ESEA. Stay tuned for further updates, and visit [|www.nclicoalition.org] for upcoming details on what the Senate bill would mean for states.

Thanks to all of you for your continued advocacy for NCLI. It is because of your efforts that we have achieved this remarkable milestone. = = = = = = =PUBLIC FEEDBACK on KY's DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY PLAN= Please use the information below to make comments on the draft plan. Also feel free to send this information to others! If you go to the KDE webpage at [|http://www.education.Ky.gov] you will see that the draft of the KELP is now available for public feedback. = = = = = = =Welcome**!**= Welcome to Kentucky's Environmental Literacy Plan Task Force's wiki. We will use this site to post information or links that will be useful to our task as well as to have discussions about particular elements or issues with the plan. This wiki can be viewed by the public but only edited by members. Everyone on the task force has been invited as a member. UDATE on NCLI Legislation As of July 14, 2011

 **BI-PARTISAN BILL INTRODUCED TODAY:HELP SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE ** The cosponors of the bills include: Senate Sponsors: Jack Reed (RI) and Mark Kirk (IL) Co-Sponsors: Jeff Bingaman (NM) Dick Durbin (IL) Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) Barbara Mikulski (MD) Bernie Sanders (VT) Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) John Kerry (MA) Ben Cardin (MD) Frank Lautenberg (NJ)
 * Today Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD) introduced the bi-partisan No Child Left Inside Act into the 112th Congress. ** They were joined by many of their Congressional colleagues, including Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), whose leadership provides a critical bipartisan boost.

House Sponsor: John Sarbanes [MD-3] Co-sponsors: 1) Tammy Baldwin [WI-2] 2) Gerry Connolly [VA- 11] 3) Shelley Berkley [NV-1] 4) John Lewis [GA -5] 5) Betty McCollum [MN-4] 6) James Moran [VA-8] 7) Jim McGovern [MA-3] 8) Raul Grijalva [AZ-7] 9) Jesse Jackson, Jr. [IL-2] 10) Rush Holt [NJ-12] 11) Steve Israel [NY-2] 12) John Olver [MA-1] 13) Keith Ellison [MN-5] 14) Grace Napolitano [CA-38] 15) Joe Courtney [CT-2] 16) Bob Filner [CA-51] 17) Earl Blumenauer [OR-3] 18) Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan [Northern Mariana Islands At-Large] 19) Dennis Kucinich [OH-10] 20) Kathy Castor [FL-11] 21) Donna Christensen [Virgin Islands At-Large] 22) John Yarmuth [KY-3] 23) Jerry McNerney [CA-11] 24) Dale Kildee [MI-5] 25) Sam Farr [CA- 17] 26) Gregory Meeks [NY-6] 27) Peter Welch [VT At-Large] 28) Maurice Hinchey [NY-22] 29) Mazie Hirono [HI-2] 30) Betty Sutton [OH-13] 31) Martin Heinrich [NM-1] 32) David Price [NC-4] 33) Chellie Pingree [ME-1] 34) Carolyn McCarthy [NY-4] 35) Jared Polis [CO-2] 36) James Langevin [RI-2] 37) Eleanor Holmes Norton [District of Columbia At-Large] 38) Adam Schiff [CA-29]

To see the Senate bill go to this website, [] To see the House bill to to this website, [] August 24, 2010 Check out this website for national legislative update. []
 * __Updates__**

Among other things, we can upload files that might be useful. Currently, we have posted our (Bennett's & Wilder's) powerpoint here for your information. Dr. Gary Heath's PPT NAAEE Guidelines for Developing a State Environmental Literacy Plan (This document was handed out at the task force meeting) Task Force PPT presented by Billy Bennett and Melinda Wilder**Upcoming Events** Focus Group Meetings These meetings are designed to get input from the various identified stakeholders throughout the state. These have been organized by using the KUPEE network. All meetings are open to the public and we encourage you or anyone you think would be interested to attend. We will be asking folks to register for these meetings just so we have an idea of how many people will be attending. Registration will be through the EKU's Division of Natural Areas by e-mailing karen.pratt@eku.edu. The dates and times are as follows:

CONFIRMED Thursday, May 6, 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, 174 Downing University Center CONFIRMED Thursday, May 13, 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, Perkins Building, Quad A CONFIRMED Thursday, May 20, 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY, Business Education Psychology (BEP) Building, Room 294

=**Environmental Literacy Plan Network**= Check out this site to see what other states are doing--http://naaeeenvliteracyplans.ning.com/

=**Resources**= Kentucky Environmental Education Council: [] Kentucky's Environmental Education Master Plan, //Land, Legacy and Learning III//: []