The National Coalition for History is asking you to email letters to your U.S. Senators as soon as possible urging them to save the Teaching American History (TAH) Grants Program and Civic Education funding (through competitive grants).
In an unexpected development, Walmart announced on January 26 that it was abandoning plans to pursue a special use permit previously awarded to the retail giant for construction of a supercenter on the Wilderness Battlefield in Virginia. The decision came as the trial in a legal challenge seeking to overturn the special use permit was scheduled to begin in Orange County circuit court.
The National Humanities Alliance 2011 Humanities Advocacy Day will take place March 7-8 in Washington DC. With the newly elected Congress, and increasing budgetary pressures on federal spending, your help is needed now more than ever to defend critical humanities programs. The National Coalition for History is a co-sponsor of the annual event.
On October 20, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the appointment of Dr. Matthew Wasniewski as the new Historian of the House of Representatives. Dr. Wasniewski, who currently serves as the historian in the House Clerk’s Office of History and Preservation, received the unanimous recommendation of the House Historian Search Committee appointed by Speaker Pelosi with the input of House Republican Leader John Boehner who concurred on the appointment.
In July, the National Coalition for History (NCH), and ten other NCH members joined forces with over 20 educational organizations representing other K-12 academic disciplines in issuing a statement to Congress and the Administration calling for the continued robust funding of core academic subjects including history. This includes maintenance of discrete budget lines—such as the Teaching American History grants—for each discipline.
The “Preserving the American Historical Record Act (PAHR)” (S. 3227) was recently introduced by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Carl Levin (D-MI). The PAHR legislation would establish a new federal program of formula grants to the states and territories to support archives and the preservation of historical records at the state and local level.
On April 7, federal agencies released “Open Government Plans” detailing how they will make their operations and data more transparent and expand opportunities for citizen participation, collaboration and oversight. In addition, each agency identified at least one “flagship initiative” – a signature open government innovation in the agency. The plans were mandated by President Obama’s Open Government Directive issued in December 2009.
On March 19, the National Coalition for History submitted testimony on the President’s proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budgets for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to the House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.
President Obama’s fiscal year 2011 budget request to Congress for the Department of Education has created uncertainty about future funding for the Teaching American History grants program, at least as it is currently structured. The Obama administration has proposed consolidating 38 existing K-12 education programs into 11 new programs. As a result, Teaching American History grants is no longer listed as a separate line item in the budget calling into question whether the program will continue to receive the approximately $119 million in funding it has in recent years.
On January 21, 2010, the U.S. Department of Education announced the opening of the fiscal year 2010 Teaching American History (TAH) grant competition. The deadline for “Notice of Intent to Apply” is February 22, 2010. The deadline for the transmittal of applications is March 22, 2010, and the deadline for intergovernmental review is May 21, 2010. Potential applicants are strongly advised to read the full notice in the Federal Register by clicking here or visit the TAH Web site.