September 23, 3008
CNHT has discovered that both our Congressmen, Carol Shea-Porter of District 1, and Paul Hodes of District 2, have co-sponsored and voted for this bill which passed the US House. This legislation, if allowed to pass the Senate, will affect all states including NH. This is a good example of how the local control of education is quickly being lost to federal mandates and programs that have little or nothing to do with educational excellence and everything to do with an unsavory political agenda. According to EdWatch:
Radical Environmental Education Bill Passes House HR 3036 “No Child Left Inside Act”
The Democrat controlled US House passed HR 3036, the No Child Left Inside Act, on September 18th by a vote of 293-109. Only one Democrat opposed this unconstitutional expansion of the federal government into the realm of education that promotes unscientific, non-academic, politically correct environmental propaganda. The environmental standards, curriculum, and programs funded by this bill that are to be put in every subject would take valuable time and resources from core academic issues. The grants also promote programs that are supposed to teach bogus, subjective, and political concepts like self-esteem and environmental justice.
Representative Tom Price of Georgia offered a motion to recommit that would have amended the bill to require that school districts get the highest priority in receiving grant funds so as not to have to compete with radical environmental groups, that groups with lobbyists not receive grant funds, and that there be scientific accuracy and balance in what is taught to students about the environment. The Democrat majority rejected these common sense reforms by a vote of 172 to 230 with no Democrats in favor.
The House Republican leadership, as well as the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC), is to be commended for resistance to this terrible piece of legislation. The RSC members provided 95 of the 108 Republican votes against this bill. RSC member Congresswoman Virginia Foxx gave an excellent speech, describing the constitutional and bureaucratic problems with this legislation that is excerpted below. Unfortunately, however, the ranking Republican for the House Education and Labor Committee, Howard “Buck” McKeon (CA) and the ranking Republican on the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee, Mike Castle (DE), as well as numerous other moderate Republicans supported this bill. Also, sadly, two very good Republican amendments on which the Democrat majority agreed to allow a vote, and that would have got rid of the new politically correct program and cut its funding almost by half, were never offered.
The Bush administration’s official position on this bill has not yet been released. However, the President’s current budget calls for eliminating the underlying wasteful grant program, so there is hope that, should this even more wasteful program pass the Senate and be sent to the president, it would be vetoed.
Although it is unlikely that this bill by itself will get through the Senate and be sent to the president before Congress’ target adjournment date of September 26th, there is still danger that it will be added into a spending bill this week or during a lame duck budget session after the election. It is also quite likely that it will be brought up during discussions about No Child Left Behind next year. In fact, this bill was part of the discussion draft for NCLB’s reauthorization.
This is purely non-academic indoctrination for our children.
Following are excerpts from the testimony of two members of Congress who opposed HR 3036, Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN):
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Chairman, . . .I read the Constitution. I read it fairly frequently. Yesterday we celebrated Constitution Day. And I have searched in vain for the word “education” there. Nowhere did our Founding Fathers just think that the Congress of the United States should be involved in education. That was an issue that they thought best left to the States, and I think it is best left to the States and is not something that we should be dealing with here in the Congress.
Almost every day someone from the majority party comes to the floor and decries the deficit that we’re facing. Well, one of the reasons that we’re facing a terrible deficit is because the majority party is involved in everything and many things it should not be involved in, especially in education. That is something we should leave to the States. If we did that and left the hardworking people’s money at the State level, we would be able to do a lot more than we’re currently doing.
But I want to point out the fact that we should be dealing with the American Energy Act. We had a chance this week to do that, and we refused. Bipartisan passage of the American Energy Act would demonstrate to the world that America will no longer keep its rich energy resources under lock and key as the Democrats want to do. Not only will it help bring down the price of gasoline now, but it will make needed investments in the alternative fuels that will power our lives and our economy in the future.
Mrs. BACHMANN. Mr. Chairman, today, the House will consider H.R. 3036, the No Child Left Inside Act. I rise in strong opposition to this legislation.
First of all, H.R. 3036 continues our Nation down the ill-fated road of shifting control of school curricula away from the parents and teachers and local school boards who best know what their children need into the hands of Federal Government and its one-size-fits-all approach. To best serve our children’s educational needs, local school boards need flexibility to target resources where they are needed most–from school construction and class size reduction efforts to higher teacher salaries and technology in the classroom. The needs of individual school districts are dynamic and complex. They are not homogenous and are most certainly not best understood by bureaucrats in Washington.
I fervently believe that parents and teachers and local school boards know best how to educate our children, and it is time for Congress to stop removing them further and further from the equation. Congress must move back down the path to control, accountability, and authority at a local level for education. H.R. 3036 leads us away from this crucial goal.
The No Child Left Inside Act represents a step in the wrong direction, adding the weight of increased Federal bureaucracy to an already sinking educational outlook. Forcing local school districts to direct scarce resources away from core curricula to serve a political agenda will only further suppress the academic performance of America’s next generation. I urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation.
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HB 3036 is a perfect example of the MYRIAD of federally mandated programs that are neither instructive nor without an agenda, and are most certainly in conflict with the concept of local control.
Track this bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3036
Please also look up UN – Agenda 21 and UN Major Treaties and Agreements