Impact of FY 2006 Budget Cut Proposals on K-12 Programs
EPA's Office of Environmental Education (OEE)
For the K-12 EE field, a particularly ominous federal budget cut was the President's
proposed elimination of the EPA's OEE and
its associated grant-making programs, a federal investment of over $98 million
dollars since 1990. Losing the OEE would have substantially threatened the momentum
and networks that have been developed since the office was established. While
no price can be placed on such hard work, we can quantify what was at stake by
considering how much support the OEE has given to students, educators, and schools
from 1992 to 2003:
- 1818 grants were distributed to organizations that work with students - a total of more than $21.5 million
- 1601 grants were issued to organizations that work with educators - an equally healthy figure that surpasses $21.3 million
- Schools, school districts, and / or school boards received 524 grants - a
total of more than $4.4 million from 1992 to 2003
If we move beyond dollar signs, however, we are quickly able to qualify the
importance of and need for the OEE's continued work. Consider these groundbreaking
initiatives that, if eliminated, would leave a gaping hole in the resources
and guidance available to the K-12 EE field.
This year, the EE community led a successful campaign
to reverse this funding cut. However, we will undoubtedly be faced with
additional cuts in the very near future--cuts that will require the
community to mobilize again. To stay abreast of such campaigns, please be sure to sign up for our action alerts. We encourage your participation and input!
NOAA's Environmental Literacy Grants Program
The Office of Education and Sustainable Development (OESD), as housed at the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), received $5 million
in new funding for FY 2005 to spend on environmental literacy. Half of these funds will be
distributed throughout 2005 to the fields of environmental and marine education
in the form of competitive "Environmental
Literacy Grants."
The purpose of these grants will be to encourage the development of partnerships
and to support existing or new environmental literacy projects,
both formal and non-formal. These projects should aim to build environmental
literacy in the general public, teachers, and students in fields directly related
to NOAA sciences and to one or more of NOAA's mission goals as articulated in
the NOAA
Education Plan.
Unfortunately, before this new grant opportunity was even announced, the Bush
Administration's Office of Management and Budget removed this funding
from the proposed FY 2006 budget. This move was disappointing and frustrating,
particularly since the general environmental literacy field is already greatly
under-funded.
In
response, the Campaign for Environmental Literacy mobilized the
environmental and marine education communities to take action. You can read more about this successful initiative on our
Campaigns page, but please keep in mind that these battles are often on-going. Remain informed by signing up for our action alerts!
