# Political Payola (`politicalpayola.com`) — High School, Community College & Civic Literacy Curriculum Kit (Bilingual EN/ES)

**Grade Level:** 9th–12th Grade Civics / AP U.S. Government / Community College Political Science & Data Literacy  
**Reading Accessibility:** Grade-10 Plain-English & Español Parity  
**License:** Free Open Educational Resource (`CC-BY-4.0`) — Printable & Classroom-Ready  

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## MODULE 1 (45 Minutes): Following the Receipts — How a Bill Becomes a Kitchen-Table Cost
**Objective:** Students learn to trace a federal bill from its statutory text on `Congress.gov` to its Congressional Budget Office (`CBO`) score and household financial impact.

1. **Step 1 (10 min):** Open `https://politicalpayola.com/` and navigate to **Family Bills & Landmark Laws**.
2. **Step 2 (15 min):** Select one current kitchen-table bill (e.g., the *$35 Bank Overdraft Fee Cap*, *Medicaid Work & Coverage Rules*, or *Rural Hospital Funding*) and one historical landmark law from 1981–2025.
3. **Step 3 (20 min — Primary-Source Verification Worksheet):**
   - Click the **`Congress.gov` / `CBO` Official Record** link on the card.
   - Record: (a) Bill Number, (b) Yea-to-Nay Vote Margin by Party, (c) 10-Year CBO Deficit/Savings Score, and (d) Direct annual dollar impact on a median family in your state.

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## MODULE 2 (45 Minutes): Campaign Finance & Representation — Auditing Your District on `FEC.gov`
**Objective:** Students learn how to look up their own U.S. Representative and both U.S. Senators using official Federal Election Commission (`FEC.gov`) filings.

1. **Step 1 (10 min):** Open the **U.S. Demographics & Congress (539 Photo Wall)** tab on `politicalpayola.com` and filter by your state (e.g., `CO` for Colorado).
2. **Step 2 (15 min):** Compare the demographic composition (gender, race/ethnicity, generational breakdown) of the 119th Congress against U.S. Census national population benchmarks.
3. **Step 3 (20 min — FEC Committee Audit):**
   - Click **`FEC $ ↗`** on your Representative's card and open the **PAC Money & Scandals** tab.
   - Identify: What percentage of total campaign funds came from Corporate/Trade PACs vs. small-dollar individual donors vs. Labor/Teacher/First-Responder Unions (`SEIU`, `NEA`, `AFT`, `IAFF`)?

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## MODULE 3 (45 Minutes): Peer-Reviewed Evidence vs. Political Spin — 50-State Data Literacy
**Objective:** Students distinguish partisan talking points from peer-reviewed medical and economic data (*JAMA*, *NEJM*, *KFF*, *CDC*, *BLS*).

1. **Step 1 (15 min):** Open the **50 States Data Explorer** on `politicalpayola.com` and select two metrics (e.g., *Poverty Rate — Census SAIPE*, *Maternal Mortality — CDC/JAMA*, or *Per-Pupil K-12 Funding — NCES*).
2. **Step 2 (15 min):** Compare your home state (e.g., Colorado) against the national median and examine the Top-10 vs. Bottom-10 state governance correlation table.
3. **Step 3 (15 min — Bilingual Community Brief):** Toggle the site to **ES (`Español`)** in the top navigation bar and write a 150-word plain-language summary explaining how state policy choices affect local health or economic outcomes, citing at least two peer-reviewed sources from the table.