Selected Online Resources to Support Teaching About Virginia State and Local Government


State Government

Virginia.gov
http://portal.virginia.gov/
Virginia.gov serves as the digital portal to content on state and local government in the Commonwealth of Virginia. From this site you can access a wide range of sites including the homepages of each of the three branches of Virginia State Government and specific details on the funding, operations and impact of state government (selected resources below).

Office of Governor’s Web site
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/

The Governor’s Cabinet
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/cabinet/
The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Web site publishes the State Government. Organizational Chart. The chart is an excellent resource for students and teachers.
http://www.comonwealth.virginia.gov/StateGovernment/StateOrgChart/orgChart.cfm

Virginia General Assembly Web site
http://legis.virginia.gov/
Provides access to live video streaming of legislative sessions in both the House of Delegates and the Senate; Virginia’s Legislative Information System; the Senate’s homepage, House of Delegates’ homepage, the Capitol Classroom, and Who’s My Legislator.

At the Legislative Information System, teachers and students can monitor and track actual legislation that has been introduced, is under deliberation, or has passed.  You can also find the Constitution of Virginia on-line and a searchable database of laws in the Code of Virginia.
http://leg1.state.va.us
Teachers and students can find out who their delegates, state senators, and members of Congress are and their contact information at Who’s My Legislator.
http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

Of note is the Capitol Virtual Tour
http://virginiacapitol.gov/virtualtours/. 
Additionally, there are also a number of resources and publications, including guides to Virginia’s legislative process, posters on “How a Bill Becomes a Law Posters” for both elementary and secondary school students, and booklets on Women of the Virginia Senate, and Virginia Government in Brief that can be accessed from:
http://dela.state.va.us/Publications/Publications.nsf/GeneralInformation?OpenView#

Virginia’s Judicial System
http://www.courts.state.va.us/main.htm
Provides resources teachers and students at http://www.courts.state.va.us/studentsteachers.html.
The Journey through Justice interactive Web site is designed to introduce students to Virginia’s court system.
http://www.jtj.courts.state.va.us/

Virginia Department of Planning and Budget
http://dpb.virginia.gov/budget/faq.cfm
Frequently Asked Questions about the Commonwealth of Virginia’s biennial budget from the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget.

Commonwealth Data Point
http://datapoint.apa.virginia.gov/index.cfm
Provides financial and demographic data about the Commonwealth of Virginia and the operations of state government.

Virginia Performs
http://vaperforms.virginia.gov/
Provides comparative data on how the Commonwealth of Virginia is doing in terms of key indicators of quality of life.


Local Government Resources and Information

Virginia Local Government Management Association
http://www.vlgma.org/
Virginia Local Managers Association (an affiliate of the Virginia Municipal League) provides information and education the work of local governments. 

Virginia Municipal League
http://www.vml.org/index.html
Association of city, town and county government with a range and reports (e.g. Virginia Town & City) regarding local government policies and initiatives.


Information and Resources for Informing Citizens and Supporting Civic Engagement and Participation

State and Local Government on the Net
http://www.statelocalgov.net/
A directory of official state, county, and city government Web site.

Stateline from The Pew Center of the States
http://www.stateline.org/live/
Current news of state policy and politics.

The Council of State Governments
http://www.csg.org/index.aspx
The Book of States offers current information and data regarding the activities of state governments.

Virginia Coalition for Open Government
http://www.opengovva.org/
Promoting access to local and state information.

Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia
http://www.coopercenter.org/
Provides reports, data, interactive maps on public policy issues in Virginia.

The League of Women Voters: VOTE 411
www.vote411.org
A “one stop” voting information Web site.

The Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia
http://www.sorenseninstitute.org/programs/hslp/curriculum
Political Leaders Program including a high school leaders program in Virginia.


Educational Resources and Digital Archives

Encyclopedia Virginia
http://encyclopediavirginia.org/
Publically accessible encyclopedia on the people, history, government, economy and culture of Virginia from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

Youth Leadership Initiative
http://www.youthleadership.net/
A program of the Center of Politics at the University of Virginia providing educational resources to support the teaching of government and civics.

For Virginians: Government Matters
http://vagovernmentmatters.org/
Online resource that provides lesson materials and resources to support teaching and learning about citizenship participation, and the nature, functions, and impact of state and local government in Virginia.

Library of Virginia’s Virginia Memory
http://www.virginiamemory.com/
The Online Classroom’s offers access to documents and lesson plans about Virginia’s history.
http://www.virginiamemory.com/online_classroom/
The Shaping the Constitution exhibit illuminates Virginia’s connection to the founding of the United States Government.

U.S. Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/
Access information and interactive maps based on census data as well as quick facts about states and counties from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html. Beyond the population census, the Census Bureau also provides access to the Census of Governments.

The National Archives’ Online Exhibits
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/
Offers a number of online exhibits. Includes the Charters of Freedom exhibit focuses on the origins and impact of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/

The Virginia Historical Society
http://www.vahistorical.org/
Offers number of online exhibits that focus on Virginia History.
http://www.vahistorical.org/exhibits/exhibits_online.htm
Includes The Story of Virginia, an American Experience.
http://www.vahistorical.org/storyofvirginia.htm

Library of Congress American Memory
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
Online exhibits/ collections and lesson plans and access to the Federalist Papers.
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html