Supporting Geography Education

Inspired by the first appearance of EarthView in the State House in June 2010, several legislators have submitted a bill to expand geography education in Massachusetts. Even more legislators got a peak of the world from the inside when EarthView returned in April 2011, so support is building for geography education and geography licensure in the Commonwealth.

The bill would expand geography education beyond its current one-year slot in grade 6 or 7, while also allowing high school teachers in Massachusetts once again to be licensed in geography, a possibility that was taken away in the late 1990s.

More information about the bill and how to support it is available at MassGEO, the web site of the Massachusetts Geographic Alliance. Currently the bill is being considered by the Joint Committee on Education, which heard testimony from the EarthView team and other MGA members on Flag Day, June 14. Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's testimony is posted on his blog. This autumn is a good time for other Massachusetts residents to contact their legislators to discuss the bill.