Below you will find the official position of the VGA. Please write to your one or all of the Senators listed to tell them of your position.
We need your help!
The Senate version of the measure to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (aka NCLB or ESEA.) is being marked up in committee today. While the social studies were not ‘left behind’ in the Senators’ bill, geography most certainly was. Included are relevant passages below, but you can go to http://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/S_EveryChildAchievesActof2015.pdf to see the bill in its entirety.
We are requesting that those who care about geography education write members of the committee to reinsert geography into the bill to counter the almost exclusive focus on American history and civics. My current understanding is that numbers of emails matter. The committee members can be found here.
They are:
Republicans (by rank}
Lamar Alexander (TN)
Michael B. Enzi (WY)
Richard Burr (NC)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
Rand Paul (KY)
Susan Collins (ME)
Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Mark Kirk (IL)
Tim Scott (SC)
Orrin G. Hatch (UT)
Pat Roberts (KS)
Bill Cassidy, M.D. (LA)
Democrats (by rank)
Patty Murray (WA)
Barbara A. Mikulski (MD)
Bernard Sanders (I) (VT)
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA)
Al Franken (MN)
Michael F. Bennet (CO)
Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
Tammy Baldwin (WI)
Christopher S. Murphy (CT)
Elizabeth Warren (MA)
The only mention of geography is on pages 290 and 529. However, page 290 is not clear since it isn’t mentioned again in description of how the allocated funds can be used.
You will also find dedicated funding for Civics and History on page 283…not social studies, nor geography.
What’s Included
Title II of the proposed bill (“High Quality Teachers, Principals and other School Leaders”) contains (under section 2003) provisions for the teaching of “American history and civics education.”
Section 2302 of Title II, creates a competitive grant program that would award grants to local education agencies (LEAs) to carry out activities promoting the teaching of traditional American history in elementary and secondary schools as a separate academic subject and not a component of social studies….
Section 2303, creates ‘Presidential and Congressional academies for American history and civics.’
Section 2304, creates a competitive grant program to promote innovative strategies to promote innovative instruction in history, civics and geography stressing serving currently under-served school populations. Grants will be awarded for developing, implementing and disseminating for voluntary use, innovative, evidence-based approaches to civic learning and American history, which may include hands-on civic engagement activities for teachers and students, that demonstrate innovation, scalability, accountability, and a focus on underserved populations.
How you can help
1. Share this news with your friends and networks. Encourage them to
2. Sign-up for legislative alert emails.
3. And today, write the Senators on the Education Committee demanding they include an equal representation of all the social studies disciplines in the ESEA bill!
Sandra R. Carter, Recording Secretary, VGA
