PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 11, 2015
No Child Left Inside Act of 2015
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to direct the Secretary of Education to award grants to states and, through them, competitive subgrants to eligible partnerships to support the implementation of state environmental literacy plans that include environmental education standards and teacher training.
Includes in the eligible partnerships a local educational agency (LEA) and at least one institution of higher education, another LEA, an elementary or secondary school, or a government or nonprofit entity experienced in environmental literacy.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Requires use of the subgrants for one or more of the following activities:
providing targeted, job-embedded professional development that improves teachers' environmental content knowledge and pedagogical skills;
establishing and operating environmental education summer workshops or institutes for teachers;
developing or redesigning more rigorous environmental education curricula;
designing programs that prepare teachers to provide environmental education mentoring and training to other teachers in their school;
establishing and operating programs to bring teachers and students into contact with working professionals in environmental fields;
creating initiatives that incorporate environmental education within teacher training programs or accreditation standards; and
promoting the integration of outdoor environmental education lessons into the regular school curriculum and schedule.
Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to eligible partnerships for one or more of the following activities:
developing and implementing state curriculum frameworks for environmental education that meet challenging state academic content and achievement standards for environmental education,
replicating or disseminating information about proven and tested model environmental education programs, and
developing and implementing new approaches to advancing environmental education and the adoption and use of environmental education content standards.
Amends part B (Mathematics and Science Partnerships) of title II of the ESEA to: (1) include nonprofit environmental education organizations and government science, environmental, or natural resource management agencies among the entities eligible to participate in part B partnerships; and (2) allow the use of part B funds to train teachers to use environmental education to enhance student understanding of science and mathematics.
Amends part B (21st Century Community Learning Centers) of title IV of the ESEA to include environmental literacy activities among the before and after school activities that such program funds at community learning centers.
Directs the Secretary to:
request all federal agencies to provide information on any environmental literacy assistance program that they operate, sponsor, or support;
make that information searchable and accessible through the Department of Education's website and cross-referenced with the United States Green Ribbon School application information;
coordinate environmental literacy activities between the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Commerce; and
appoint an advisory panel of stakeholders to advise and support interagency environmental literacy planning and assessment activities.
People & committees
Rep. Sarbanes, John P. [D-MD-3] · D–MD
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Mar 23, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.882 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.882 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.882 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.882 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.