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U.S.
Senator Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees |
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For Immediate
Release Friday, October 19, 2007 |
CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-228-3630 |
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WASHINGTON, DC – As the National Park Service (NPS) aims to strengthen its educational initiatives in advance of the 100th anniversary of our National Park System in 2016, United States Senators Ken Salazar (D-CO) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) introduced the National Park Ranger School Partnership Act, which would establish a pilot grant program to help schools team up with National Parks so that children, teachers and park rangers can make better use of our parks as outdoor classrooms. The National Park Ranger School Partnership Act would allow schools with a high proportion of low-income children to compete for grants of up to $25,000 to help bring students into parks, to develop curricula that make use of park resources and to bring park rangers into schools to assist with professional development and teaching. The bill also clarifies that NPS is qualified to serve as an educational service provider, thus enabling the agency to receive federal funds under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) while working with a local education agency or other partners. “As Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, I helped establish the Youth In Natural Resources Program to provide our youth with a better understanding of and greater appreciation for Colorado’s natural environment,” said Senator Salazar (D-CO). “This bill builds on these efforts by establishing an education program that will allow the National Park Service to partner with local schools so that kids and teachers can better use our National Parks as living classrooms.” “We have so many wonderful National Park Service sites that could serve as important educational and training resources for our students,” said Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND). “By implementing this education program, we will promote higher achievement in math and science while developing our student’s appreciation for our national parks.” Under the program, Priority in the selection of schools to participate in the program would be assigned to those schools that are adjacent or near a NPS facility; close to a NPS Research Learning Center; that have a partnership with or are capable of partnering with a unit of the NPS; or that have, or agree to develop, a technology-based distance learning link to the NPS. Following a three-year demonstration of the merits of the program, the Department of Education and the National Park Service would report to Congress on the demonstration project with recommendations for the future of the program.
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