Geography education could get a boost from Congress, through a bill introduced this month to provide federal money to improve teaching in the subject. The Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act, sponsored by Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., would authorize spending on a professional-development program to expand teachers’ knowledge of the subject.
In the 2002 National Geographic-Roper Global Geographic Literacy Survey of 18- to 24-year olds, U.S. students finished eighth out of nine countries in their knowledge about the world.