The public hearing for LD 2001 “An Act to Establish the African American Studies Advisory Council and Require Funding for African American Studies” takes place at 1:00 pm today, Thursday 1/11/24 at the State House in Augusta, Maine.
What the bill does:
- Establishes a permanent advisory commission to be housed in Maine’s Department of Education whose members will be compensated.
- Establishes a task force to develop a strategic plan on incorporating African American studies into the teacher certification process.
- Engages a full time coordinator for African American studies.
- Requires a report to the Education Committee every two years that must include a summary of any curriculum audits having taken place.
- Establishes professional development opportunities, including at a minimum an annual institute on African American studies.
The current bill language, before amendments, can be found here.
How you can support the bill:
- You can testify live before the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee at 1:00 pm today in Room 208 at the Cross Building, located at 111 Sewall St. in Augusta (if you wish to testify live, you do not have to submit written testimony beforehand; instead, bring 20 printed copies of your text.)
- You can sign up to testify electronically via Zoom by clicking here and following the prompts; you must register before 12:30 pm today (you will receive a confirmation email with a link to the Zoom meeting)
- You can submit written testimony by clicking here and following the prompts. Note that testimony received after the day of the public hearing will be distributed to committee members and staff, but it will not be published online.
- You can follow today’s hearing at this link.
