Teachers selected for the program, who began this year on July 26, “will receive training, resources, and support to strengthen their teaching of international conflict management and peacebuilding,” according to the USIP.
This isn’t the first time USIP has worked with Alabama. For example, every year around Sept. 21, celebrated as International Day of Peace, the agency programs educational and outreach efforts. In 2015, Peace Day Challenge brought USIP to the state to work with a nonprofit leader who was inspired by the 50-year anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March. That effort resulted in Montgomery school officials declaring Sept. 21 Peace Day districtwide. USIP also has in the past sponsored a Peace Essay Contest; some of the winners have been from Alabama.
So why does the president want to cut USIP’s budget?
First, USIP, despite close ties to the federal government, is actually an independent agency that formed around the notion that it is just as important to make peace as it is to wage war. The organization was created in the 1980s by members of Congress who were veterans and believed the study of peace was a key contributor to U.S. national security interests.
A spokeswoman who would only speak on condition of anonymity described the USIP as “a congressionally funded organization that is working to create a more peaceful international landscape for the U.S. … We are a really important way in which the U.S. deals with the rest of the world.” USIP works in other countries but also works in the U.S. with government agencies, nonprofits, teachers and students to further discussions around conflict resolution and building and establishing peace.
While “An American Budget” does not propose completely eliminating USIP as it does with some agencies or programs, it does see the need to trim its budget. Specifically, the president wants to cut USIP’s funding from $38 million to $20 million.
Although USIP officials would not comment about the president’s proposal on the record, they did say that they continue to fight for their funding by staying in touch with Congress and the executive branch.
Adams, the Peace Teacher from Chelsea, said he’s glad USIP exists to support his close-to-home classroom goals.
He sees the Peace Teacher program as a vehicle to help examine similarities and differences between cultures and the interconnections between cultures that can contribute to ending conflicts.
“As long as they maintain programs such as this that are trying to implement and establish those values, I feel blessed that I was one of four selected,” he said.
BirminghamWatch is looking at a number of the programs on President Trump’s list to end or significantly cut and asking “What If?” Stories behind the programs targeted for elimination show why they’re valued or disdained, troubled or effective, applicable or outdated, but perhaps most of all entangled in the lives of Alabama people, their governments, and community businesses and other institutions. This is the second story in the series.