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YLI and the Charlottesville League of Women Voters Host A Teachers Day on the Budget
If you can imagine it thirty five teachers from across the state of Virginia met in Charlottesville for a full day discussion of the budget process. The Charlottesville League of Women Voters sponsored the event and provided funding for all of the day's activities. Educators spent the day discussing the budget process from both the federal and state level.
The day's event began with a welcome from Kerin Yates, President of the Charlottesville League of Women Voters. Ms. Yates discussed the importance of civic engagement and particularly voting to the success of our political system. She expressed her appreciation to participants for giving up their day to learn more about a difficult topic.
Julie Strong, YLI Teacher and curriculum writer, discussed the politics of the budget process highlighting the role of political ideology in the current legislative session. Meg Heubeck, Director of Instruction for the Center for Politics, presented a lesson on the budget process and introduced teachers to Market Place Radio's Budget Hero simulation.
To learn first hand about the federal budget process YLI teachers listened to Sandy Edwards, Associate Director of Legislative Affairs for the Congressional Budget Office, describe the role of the Congressional Budget Office in advising congress on budgetary issues.
The day's event capped off with a round robin discussion on the state budget process with a wide variety of experts in the field. Jeff Schapiro from the Times-Dispatch represented the media, Ric Brown the Secretary of Finance and Scott Sandridge from the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget represented the executive branch of the State of Virginia. Betsey Daley represented the Senate Finance Committee with Delegates Steve Landes and Lee Ware sharing the point of view of the General Assembly.
Robley Jones spoke on behalf of the Virginia Education Association and provided teachers with the viewpoint of a special interest. The conversations were lively and civil living up to YLI's reputation for providing teachers the opportunity to discuss politics and practice civil discourse. Both educators and guests commented that they enjoyed the session and got a lot out of it.
YLI is committed to providing teachers with the best resources on government and civics. The YLI teacher day reinforces this goal by providing teachers access to political professionals and their experiences. The YLI teacher day also fulfills the mission of creating lifelong civic engagement by energizing teachers and sending them into their classrooms armed with knowledge and skills to provide engaging lessons.
