![[photo, State Department of Education, 200 West Baltimore St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/13sdoe/images/1198-1-421b.jpg)
c/o Division of Student, Family & School Support, State Dept. of Education
200 West Baltimore St., Baltimore, Maryland, July 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Appointed by Governor: Hanne B. Mawhinney, Ph.D.; Wanda K. Newton.
Appointed by Senate President: Jamin B. Raskin
Appointed by House Speaker: Peter F. Murphy
Appointed by Chief Judge, Court of Appeals: Jean S. Baron
Appointed jointly by President, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association & President, Maryland D.C. Delaware Broadcasters Association: Douglas Alexander; Christopher A. Eddings.
Appointed by Maryland Association of Student Councils: Michele Manning; Sam Motamedi.
Appointed by Maryland State Teachers Association: Donna Phillips; Ramona L. Howard Turner.
Ex officio: Patricia A. Foerster, designee of Governor; Anthony G. Brown, Lieutenant Governor; Elizabeth M. Kameen, designee of Attorney General; Mary E. Nitsch, designee of Secretary of State; Allan M. Kittleman, designee of Senate President; James W. Gilchrist, designee of House Speaker; Joan Carter Conway, Chair, Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee; Sheila E. Hixson, Chair, House Ways and Means Committee; Nancy S. Grasmick, Ph.D., State Superintendent of Schools; Guffrie M. Smith, Jr., designee of President, State Board of Education; Wanda Speede, designee of Secretary of Higher Education; Chip Weinman, designee of President, Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission; Deborah T. Ritchie, President, Maryland Parent Teacher Association; Clara B. Floyd, President, Maryland State Teachers Association; Michael Shaw, designee of President, Annie E. Casey Foundation; Marcie Taylor-Thoma, Ph.D., State Coordinator, We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution; Nancy Soreng, President, League of Women Voters of Maryland; Ellery M. (Rick) Miller, Jr., Executive Director, Citizenship Law-Related Education Program for the Schools of Maryland; J. Scott McComb, designee of President, Maryland Council for the Social Studies; Judith B. Smith, Ed.D., Chair, Education That is Multicultural & Achievement Network; Abby Kiesa, designee of Director, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
Staff: Julie K. Ayers
The Commission on Civic Literacy was authorized on October 1, 2007 (Chapter 160, Acts of 2007). Civic literacy often refers to the capacity of an informed citizen to participate fully and successfully in government, exercising the rights and obligations of citizenship. A knowledge of civic processes along with a willingness to become actively involved in these processes are necessary to maintain a representative form of government.
In collaboration with schools, the Commission developed and coordinated programs to educate students in the importance of reasoned debate, good-faith negotiation, and compromise in representative democracy; individual involvement in creating "successful communities"; and consideration and respect for others in deliberating, negotiating, and advocating positions on public concerns.
Civic education projects in Maryland were identified by the Commission and technical assistance provided for those projects as needed. The Commission also developed a clearinghouse on the Internet with a database of civic education resources, lesson plans, and other programs; a discussion board to promote the interaction of ideas relating to education; an events calendar; and links to civic education research.
Authorization for the Commission ended September 30, 2012.
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