How You Can Help
We urge you to write your Congressional representatives to provide your opinion regarding geography education funding and implementation programs for NCLB. Congressional leaders need to understand that geography is essential to a well-rounded K-12 education. Some key points which might be helpful to share with your representatives include 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.