Keeping Civic Education Local

And three cheers for TVW

A lesson to teach: Following a bill through a state legislature

In my senior-level American government class, students have been tracking Washington’s Parental Rights bill this year. In a partnership with TVW (Washington State’s version of C-SPAN, TVW provides unedited media coverage of our state government’s hearings and debates) my students have worked with a government insider via Zoom to discuss what is happening with the bill. They’ve watched committee hearings, witnessed public and expert testimony, read the bill, analyzed the bill reports, debated the issues in class, and have written to their representatives urging action.

Read the whole story and Washington’s Parent’s Bill of Rights here via ParentMap, Seattle’s parenting magazine that I frequently freelance for. Last year my students tracked Washington’s quest to end childhood marriages, which ended up becoming law with strong bipartisan support. Read all about that here.

As part of TVW’s Capitol Classroom program, we even scored a 15-minute meeting with one of our state reps:

Tracking bills on a state level with my government students is always gratifying. While we study national issues, my students track local issues to learn about the legislative branch of government. Here’s why:

• Local issues seem more “real” to the students

• It’s often possible to watch a bill go through committees and floor votes and become law within the semester.

• Watching committee hearings exposes students to representatives that some of them will be able to vote for or against

• Students have a better chance of weighing in on issues and having their voices heard and acknowledged.

Y'all know that I love to share all my lesson plans, slides, and student worksheets with the world. That’s a bit hard to do with this lesson because I was teaching about the bill as it was passing through committees - that’s all over now.

However, my tip for watching hearings with your students is to pre-watch it and write down all the names/professions of people who testify. Then, give your students a notes page like this. Have students take notes on what each person said. Later, students can email their representatives and use their notes from the public testimony as evidence to back up their opinions.

A book to read:

Instead of a book recommendation, I’ll proselytize my love of following my local legislature. As a Washingtonian, I subscribe to the Washington State Standard, an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers Washington state government and politics in minute detail.

Do other states have something similar? If you are a non-Washingtonian, let me know about local publications that you follow in your area.

A place to explore: Olympia, Washingon

My favorite way to explore a city is ALWAYS to run through it!

I haven’t spent much time in our state’s capitol. It’s a few hours south of where I live and you have to fight through Seattle traffic and then Tacoma traffic to get there so…

Olympia is at the bottom of a very long sound (Puget Sound, or the Salish Sea) that separates the majority of Washington from the Olympic Peninsula. I’ve spent tons of time on the Olympic Peninsula because it is gorgeous, but the question always is whether we should drive around the south, through Olympia to get to the peninsula or take a ferry.

Ruby Beach and a little hike in the Quinault Rainforest

I always choose the ferry. Sure, they are expensive and can come with a two hour wait but I freakin’ love ferries. Therefore, I rarely drive around, therefore I rarely go to Olympia. Except to run an occasional half marathon. So there ya go.

Happy teaching, traveling, and reading! See y’all next Sunday.

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