NCHE Executive Director Peter Seibert has sent History Education Hawaii the following. Your advocacy is needed NOW:
This morning I received word from our advocacy firm that the U.S. House of Representatives is proposing the elimination of all TAH funding in the new Continuing Resolution (CR) that is being brought forward this week. This is extremely serious as this would effectively eliminate the program this year (not only the just-filed grants but also the year four and five grants as well) and could jeopardize support going forward. This came up very quickly and it appears the Senate is resisting. However, the program could still be eliminated or significantly reduced. Thus, we need you to act today!!!
The action steps needed are this:
1) Please call or email your Senators to tell them of your concern about the elimination of this funding by the House. We are bipartisan organization and both Republican and Democratic Senators have supported this program so affiliation is not the issue. Contact the local or district office for your Senator (I can provide you with that information if you are not sure) as this is often more effective that calling the DC offices where you will be one of a myriad of callers into their switchboards.
2) Identify yourself as a constituent (always vital) and outline your concern with the proposed elimination of TAH funding by the House in the forthcoming Continuing Resolution. It is important to focus on the impact of the program in your state (if you need information on this, email me directly and I will get you figures on the number of grants awarded over time). It is also important to stress the importance of history in the curriculum and that TAH is the only federal program to support professional development in history education.
3) Ask them to maintain TAH funding at the same level as last year and not to approve elimination of this funding.
4) Contact your colleagues, TAH teachers, museums, etc., on this.
Additional steps:
1) Contact your U.S.. House member on this issue. The House is not unified in this cut and pressure can be brought to bear upon leadership on both sides to fight to save this program. Again, use the same action steps as above.
2) Home Run Actions. Speak to your Senator directly! A tough one but this ensures that the message gets through the web of staffers.
Contact your Governor and ask him/her to call your Senators on this issue.
Time is of the essence as we have only a few days to act on this surprising action!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Contact Your Senators: Preserving Teaching American History Grant Funding
We The People: Summer Institute for Hawaii and Alaska Teachers
The 2011 We The People Summer Institute For Teachers has been announced by the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center in Honolulu.
The deadline for applications is April 15, 2011.
Experience a rigorous professional development program with constitutional scholars from a variety of disciplines and outstanding mentor teachers. Participants will attend lectures and sessions dedicated to teaching methods appropriate to the We The People curriculum.
Join institute scholars Dr. Melody MacKenzie, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Dr. Paul Ongtooguk, University of Alaska, Anchorage, and Dr. David Wilkins, University of Minnesota as they address the following topic from Unit 6 in the We The People text:
What Challenges Face American Constitutional Democracy in the 21st Century?
What are the greatest challenges of American citizenship for Native peoples? What tensions exists today between national unity, state sovereignty, and native governments? What are the advantages and disadvantages, if any, of being a citizen of both the United States and a native government?
Where & When
King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center
417 South King Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
July 18-20, 2011
8:30AM-3:30PM, Daily
Fifteen Oahu-based and five neighbor-island teachers from upper elementary, middle, and high schools will be selected to attend. DOE teachers will have the opportunity to receive three PD credits. Travel and lodging will be covered for neighbor-island teachers. All participants will receive a selection of constitutional literature at no cost.
Send your application and statement via email or fax to:
Keahe Davis, Education Specialist
King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center
Phone: 808-539-4994
Fax: 808-539-4996
Email: keahe@jhchawaii.net
Friday, April 1, 2011
Testimony Submitted to Senator Ige: Funding for Judiciary History Center
I am an adjunct lecturer at Hawaii Tokai International College, and founder/president of History Education Hawaii, an allied organization of the National Council for History Education. Today I am writing in support of HB300 HD2 SD1, which includes funding for the Judiciary History Center.
One of the most important aspects of civic education is that Americans since the nation’s founding have professed it to be essential. Educating all American young people for their future roles as engaged, responsible citizens has not wavered over time and circumstance. The King Kamehemeha V Judiciary History Center serves the public as a vital educational resource. Through its hands-on programs, for example, young people from around the world attain a deeper understanding of the fundamental principles of the major tenets of freedom, democracy and constitutional principles at work.
Each academic term I bring my students to the Judiciary History Center to perform one of the mock trials in the restored 1913 Courtroom, tour the exhibits and view the chambers of the Hawaii Supreme Court. Some of my students over the years are Americans, though the majority originates from Japan, China, Mongolia and other nations in East Asia.
Most have never been in a setting such as this in their home countries. They come away with a greater recognition all have a shared interest in the role of government in their lives as well as an understanding of procedural fairness through constitutionalism. Their experience has a meaningful impact on their education. Without the programs and staff of the Judiciary History Center none of this would be possible.
Thank you very much for considering my testimony in support of HB300 HD2 SD1.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Bingham Mead
Founder/President, History Education Hawaii
Adjunct Lecturer, Hawaii Tokai International College
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Budget News and the Hawaii Judiciary History Center
Word has reached History Education Hawaii that the final hearing for the Judiciary's budget bill, which includes funding for the Judiciary History Center, is scheduled on Friday, April 1, 2011 at 9:00 a.m.
The bill, HB300 HD2 SD1, has already been heard by the House of Representatives' Judiciary and Finance Committees. Its third and final hearing is with the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. Our friends at the Hawaii Judiciary History Center are asking for testimony one last time.
IIt should be pointed out that each time the bill passes a committee hearing, it is amended. The bill's next hearing requires a new record of testimony.
If you didn't have a chance to submit testimony for the previous hearings, History Education Hawaii hopes you'll take just a moment to do so.
For those of you who were able to testify, please resubmit making note of the bill's current number (HB300 HD2 SD1).
Address your testimony to Senator David Ige, Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. The testimony must be received by March 31, 9:00 a.m.
You may email testimony to WAMTestimony@Capitol.
Sample testimony is provided below:
Dear Senator Ige,
I am writing in support of HB300 HD2 SD1, which includes funding for the Judiciary History Center.
[Your own statement about how the Judiciary History Center has affected you (free school tours, curricula, public programs, organizational partnerships, personal research, vendor or purchase of services, etc.) How would you be affected if the Judiciary History Center were eliminated?]
Thank you very much for considering my testimony in support of HB300 HD2 SD1.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
Saturday, March 26, 2011
PBS Hawaii Presents: Dolley Madison on the American Experience
(Picture Credit: PBS.org)
History educators, students and historians will be pleased to find various supplemental resources available. These include a time line, related books and web sites, a teacher's guide and more.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Women's History Month: Gilder Lehrman Institute
We're pleased to share with you a sampler of published articles from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. March marks Women's History Month in the United States:
Thinking about Women: Nineteenth Century Feminist Writings
by Anne Firor Scott. W.K. Boyd Professor of History Emerita, Duke University
Reconstruction and the Battle for Woman Suffrage
by Ellen DuBois. Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles
The Legal Status of Women, 1776-1830
by Marylynn Salmon. Research Associate in History, Smith College
The Seneca Falls Convention: Setting the National Stage for Women's Suffrage
by Judith Wellman. Director, Historical New York Research Associates, and Professor Emerita, State University of New York at Oswego
For these and other resources visit and support the Gilder Lehrman Institute today.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Hawaii Historians and History Educators: Please Contact Sen. Inouye Today
Aloha Kakahiaka:
As the founder and head of History Education Hawaii, Inc., formerly the History Education Council of Hawaii, I am writing today for your help about a critical situation. This regards continued funding for
the Teaching American History Grant program in 2011.
As you know, the federal government is currently operating under a two week short term Continuing Resolution (CR) while both houses of Congress attempt to resolve their differences in how they will approach funding the last five months of 2011’s federal operating budget.
There is a great deal of disagreement on the issue of how this will happen and no one is completely sure of what the final result will be.
The U.S. House’s recommendation (HR1) calls for the elimination of many programs including the Teaching American History grant program. The U.S. Senate’s version provides for cuts in many areas but preserves TAH at the same level as in 2010. In the next weeks, a conference committee from both houses will be meeting to hopefully hammer out a compromise in this area and that is where we need your
help.
I believe that it has been the advocacy efforts of the National Council for History Education (NCHE) that has kept TAH in front of key Senators. While other areas of educational professional development were cut in the two-week CR, TAH was not one of them. It was preserved. That tells me that our efforts are
connecting.
To that end I am asking for help. If you are concerned about history education and preserving the Teaching American History Grant program please contact Sen. Inouye. We share the view with our colleagues at the NCHE that Senator Inouye is perhaps the most key member of the Senate on this decision.
Please go to this link and contact Senator Daniel Inouye today. Thank you!
Historically yours,
Jeffrey Bingham Mead
History Education Hawaii, Inc.
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