Update Posted: April 7, 2007
Washington Report
February and March, 2007, saw the reintroduction of the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act in the 110th Congress. On March 1, the same day it was reintroduced in the Senate as S727 and the day after it was reintroduced in the House of Representatives as HR1228, the bill had an unprecedented show of grass-roots support on Capitol Hill. Geographic Alliance coordinators and National Geographic Society grant recipients gathered in Washington D.C. discussed the bill with their congressional representatives. Before the day was over they had attended 140 individual meetings with Senators, Representatives, and their education staffers.
Individual members of the geography education community can build on this important momentum by contacting: 1) their U.S. Representatives and Senators who co-sponsored the bills, to ensure them that their support is important to K-12 education; 2) those who have not co-sponsored the bills, to urge them to do so; and 3) those who serve on the committees to which the bills have been referred, to enlist their support. The voices of constituents are heard on Capitol Hill!
HR1228 was introduced by Representative Chris Van Hollen (MD) and had seven co-sponsors by this writing in in-March: Representatives Shelley Berkley (NV), Lloyd Doggett (TX), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Dennis Moore (KS), Mike Thompson (CA), Peter Welch (VT), and Roger Wicker (MS). It is now in the House Committee on Education and Labor.
S727 was introduced by Senator Thad Cochran (MS) and had fourteen co-sponsors by mid-March: Senators Christopher Dodd (CT), Daniel Akaka (HI), Susan Collins (ME), Ted Stevens (AK), Trent Lott (MS), Gordon Smith (OR), Lamar Alexander (TN), Olympia Snowe (ME), Jeff Bingaman (NM), Chuck Hagel (NE), Patrick Leahy (VT), Bernard Sanders (VT), John Warner (VA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI). It has been referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
All Representatives and Senators can be identified and contacted through http://www.senate.gov/ and http://www.house.gov/writerep/. The websites also provide links to the committees and e-mail access to the committee members.
The basic provisions of the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act are familiar by now. (The full text of S727 is available on the NCGE website, www.ncge.org.) In brief, H1228 and S727 are described as ?a bill to improve and expand geographic literacy among kindergarten through grade 12 students in the United States by improving professional development programs for kindergarten through grade 12 teachers offered through institutions of higher education.? It provides funds for national-level projects and research and for collaborations between institutions of higher education and Geographic Alliances, nonprofit educational organizations, and state or local educational agencies. Both the House and the Senate versions of the bill allocate $15 million annually, beginning in fiscal year 2008. HR1228 provides funds for six years, S727 for five years.
An important aspect of both bills is that they are introduced as an amendment (Title II, Part C, Geography Education) to the Higher Education Act of 1965, which is scheduled for reauthorization in 2007. If the amendment remains in tact through the reauthorization process, the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act could be in effect within a year. The debates that characterize the process will no doubt question whether the amendment is significant to K-12 education. The legislators will need strong input from the geography education community in order to answer that question.
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