Help Advance Geography Education

Friday September 14th 2007
Filed Under Current Events, Education 

The American Association of Geographers has put out a call for action to help advance education in geography for the United States.  Listed below are ways to help, especially in contacting your United States Representatives and Senators to urge them to fund geography education:

As most of you are aware, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the current version of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), is presently up for reauthorization, which presents a major opportunity for Congress to promote geography teaching at the K-12 level. You also may have heard that the initial House staff draft version to reauthorize No Child Left Behind again fails to include dedicated federal funding support for geography. For more information, see the July-August 2007 AAG Newsletter, and visit http://www.aag.org/nclb for regular updates.. How you can helpThe House Education and Labor committee has asked the public to send e-mail comments on the draft bill by this Friday, September 14, 2007 to ESEA.Comments@mail.house.gov. In addition to sending e-mail to the committee, we urge you to write to your Congressional representation and targeted members (see the list below) to promote the following:

· Funding geography in NCLB is critical: Geography is the only core-curriculum subject identified in the ESEA without associated funding. This must change if students are to make the necessary strides in geographic understanding.

· Implementing programs for geography are also needed: Geography also lacks any specified implementing programs in NCLB. These programs should help implement more widespread teaching of geography in elementary and secondary schools.

· Geography is essential to a well-rounded K-12 education: Geographic understanding is important to every American - it is critical to the informed exercise of each citizen’s civic responsibility. Geography helps us understand the connections between people and places- and with the natural environment. Geography education is key to achieving international understanding and economic development, and also provides essential workforce skills needed to maintain U.S. competitiveness. The study of geography enables students to access the explanatory power of maps and increasingly ubiquitous geospatial technologies - such as geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), and internet mapping. Geography helps us to understand and enhance our own communities as American citizens - and informs our understanding of the challenges facing the United States in an uncertain world.

Suggested Actions

1. Please e-mail the House committee today at ESEA.Comments@mail.house.gov urging the inclusion of funding for geography education, per the points listed above.

Follow the progress of the legislation at www.aag.org/nclb, and continue to contact and if possible meet directly with your congressional representatives on this issue in the weeks ahead as the legislation evolves.Who to contactWhile we urge you to contact all of your Senators and Representatives about this important topic, the following members serve on the Congressional Committees with jurisdiction over NCLB. If you are from the same state as one of these individuals or have some tie to their office, please also consider sending a letter to their office:

Senators - Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions · Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) · Wayne Allard (R-CO) · Christopher Dodd (D-CT) · Johnny Isakson (R-GA) · Barack Obama (D-IL) · Tom Harkin (D-IA) · Pat Roberts (R-KS) · Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) · Edward Kennedy, Chairman (D-MA) · Judd Gregg (R-NH) · Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) · Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) · Richard Burr (R-NC) · Sherrod Brown (D-OH) · Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) · Jack Reed (D-RI) · Lamar Alexander (R-TN) · Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) · Bernard Sanders (I-VT) · Patty Murray (D-WA) · Michael B. Enzi, Ranking Member (R-WY)

Representatives - House Committee on Education & Labor Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) Susan A. Davis (D-CA) Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, Ranking Member (R-CA) George Miller, Chairman (D-CA) Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA) Lynn C. Woolsey (D-CA) Joe Courtney (D-CT) Michael N. Castle (R-DE) Ric Keller (R-FL) Tom Price (R-GA) Mazie Hirono (D-HI) Judy Biggert (R-IL) Danny K. Davis (D-IL) Phil Hare (D-IL) Mark E. Souder (R-IN) Dave Loebsack (D-IA) John Yarmuth (D-KY) Charles W. Boustany, Jr. (R-LA) John Sarbanes (D-MD) John F. Tierney (D-MA) Vernon J. Ehlers (R-MI) Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) Timothy Walberg (R-MI) John Kline (R-MN) Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ) Rush D. Holt (D-NJ) Donald M. Payne (D-NJ) Timothy H. Bishop (D-NY) Yvette Clarke (D-NY) John R. “Randy” Kuhl, Jr. (R-NY) Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) Dean Heller (R-NV) Virginia Foxx (R-NC) Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) David Wu (D-OR) Jason Altmire (D-PA) Todd Russell Platts (R-PA) Joe Sestak (D-PA) Luis G. Fortuño (R-PR) Joe Wilson (R-SC) David Davis (R-TN) Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) Kenny Marchant (R-TX) Rob Bishop (R-UT) Robert C. Scott (D-VA) Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) Thomas E. Petri (R-WI) All Senators can be reached at the following address:

The Honorable XXXXX

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

All Representatives use this address:

The Honorable XXXXX

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

Another Key Legislative Initiative

Two related bills have been introduced in Congress that would also serve to promote geography education. The Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act (S. 727 and H.R. 1228) has been introduced in both houses of Congress, thanks largely to the supportive work of the National Geographic Society. The AAG supports these bills and is heartened that numerous sponsors have signed on in each House of Congress. We urge you to support these bills, either on their own, or as part of NCLB reauthorization process, as well.

Background on the Ongoing NCLB Reauthorization Process

The House Committee on Education and Labor, under the leadership of Chairman George Miller (D-CA), and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), have convened a series of ongoing hearings this year focused on different aspects of the ESEA and what has and has not been working since NCLB went into effect in 2002. Both Chairmen have stated a goal of releasing reauthorization proposals by August 3 (the last Congressional working day before the month-long Summer District Work Period).

While reauthorization is a priority for the Committees and the Democratic Leadership in both Houses of Congress, there is still disagreement in Washington as to whether the political will exists to craft a compromise bill that the White House will agree to by year’s end. It does seem quite clear that if an agreement cannot be reached before the end of the year, a reauthorization is unlikely until 2009 - the polarization of the presidential election will make action nearly impossible in 2008. That having been said, this is the most important year for those interested in the ESEA since No Child was passed in 2001, and even if a bill is not in place by the end of the year, any proposals put forward in 2007 would likely have a significant effect on a 2009 reauthorization.

The AAG has written several previous letters on geography education, and has worked with GENIP to develop a recent letter to Chairmen Kennedy and Miller urging them “to give strong support to the teaching of geography in any proposal for the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.” This letter, as well as previous columns in the AAG Newsletter on the current NCLB Act, are available at: http://www.aag.org/nclb. This website will be updated regularly with information on the No Child Left Behind reauthorization process, and also the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act, as it becomes available.Thanks for your support!Doug Richardson and John Wertman
On behalf of the Association of American Geographers



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