New Legislation on Capitol Hill

• Published in: Geography teacher (Erie, Pa.) Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 9 - 12
• Main Author: Wertman, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Routledge 02-01-2016; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Core Curriculum; Educational Finance; Educational Legislation; Elementary Secondary Education; Elementary Secondary Education Act Title II; Elementary Secondary Education Act Title IV; Expenditures; Federal Aid; Federal Legislation; Geography Instruction; Incentive Grants; No Child Left Behind Act 2001; Professional Associations; Program Implementation; Resource Allocation; School Districts
• ISSN: 1933-8341; 1752-6884
• DOI: 10.1080/19338341.2016.1151716

In this brief article, John Wertman describes the evolution of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, the role the American Association of Geographers (AAG) played over the last decade in getting it passed, and the impact the Act has on funding for K-12 geography education. The legislation, while not perfect, includes promising new opportunities for geography educators: (1) Title II of the law includes the history/civics/geography grant program, which was authorized as part of a larger series of grant programs that includes teacher incentive grants and literacy education funding; (2) Title IV specifies that states may use certain funds to support local education agencies (LEAs) in "well-rounded education" activities. Geography is one of the subjects specified as being part of a well-rounded education for purposes of these expenditures; and (3) Geography was again included as a "core academic subject" under the law and was included as part of a new legal definition of a "well-rounded education."