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Content Area: Social Studies
Index: 6.5A Grade 12 CPI 6
Standard: 6.5 - Economics
Strand: A - Economic Literacy
Cumulative Progress Indicator: 6 - The student will analyze federal and state budgets, and discuss the proportional share of government spending to major elements such as education, social programs, public safety, military, foreign aid, and welfare.
Grade: 12
Sample Activities:
· In cooperative learning groups, students research the various spending programs included in the federal budget, such as the following: Entitlement Programs (e.g., Social Security, Medicare, public assistance, Medicaid, food stamps, disability, and veterans’ benefits), Defense Spending (including foreign aid), Education Environment. An additional group can investigate federal tax policy, looking at the taxes that are currently in place and the current arguments for tax reform. Each of these groups can serve as expert resources for the class in learning about the income and expenditures of the federal government. Each group develops a budget for the federal government that expresses its specific interest and then presents the budget to the class. These presentations demonstrate how various political interests represented can affect priorities in terms of the budget-making process. Students come to realize that the budgetary policy must be constructed through the collective, and often opposing, viewpoints of a number of federal institutions and individuals. As an extension activity, each student within a cooperative learning group can represent a different special interest. Each student creates a federal budget that can be agreed upon by the entire group. Students come to realize how difficult it is for the Congress to enact an annual federal budget when so many diverse special interests must be considered. (Remember to provide students with specific numbers to work with. These numbers can be based on actual or hypothetical figures and also can include a deficit figure or a goal of reducing the deficit.)
· Students investigate the movement toward creating a balanced federal budget. They study the Gramm-Rudman Balanced Budget Act of 1985 and the subsequent Supreme Court decision declaring portions of the act unconstitutional. Students may debate the necessity of a balanced budget, the pros and cons of the proposed balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, and any deficit reduction plan passed by Congress. Ask the class, as a whole, to create a federal budget based upon debates presented by assigned students before the entire class. For example, students may be assigned to debate issues such as welfare reform, federal aid to local public schools, federal loans to college students, or defense spending. Based on the arguments presented in these debates, students then analyze, evaluate, and prioritize their own ideas about federal spending.
Inspiration Template:
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