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Civic Ed
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With Bidens in the White House, civic education should get more support.
For educators, a time of opportunity after civic life's current stress test
Jan 14 2021
Civic educators watched last week's riotous assault on the Capitol with a mixture of alarm and hope. The mob's brazen disregard for the truth and the rule of law shook teachers around the nation, but also made a stunning case for the need to invest in civic learning, which could enjoy a breakthrough year in 2021.
A bipartisan bill to invest $1 billion in civic education, a teacher-friendly incoming president, popular support for civic learning, a surge in youth activism — and the fragile state of American democracy itself — have all combined to create "sort-of a Sputnik moment" for civics, says Louise Dubé, the executive director of iCivics.
<p>Her organization, the nation's leading provider of civic learning resources, is leading a 144-member CivXNow Coalition of civic education groups that is working to mobilize allies from the Girl Scouts to the American Bar Association, along with legions of educators, students and teachers, to support the bipartisan Educating for Democracy Act. </p>
<p>Authored in the Senate by Republican John Cornyn of Texas and Democrat Chris Coons of Delaware, a close ally of President-elect Joe Biden, the bill <a href="https://www.coons.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/201130%20Educating%20for%20Democracy%20one-pager%20vINTRO.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">would dole out $1 billion</a> to states for American history and civics programs and ramp up teacher training and student assessments. A House version was introduced by Connecticut Democrat Rosa DeLauro and Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole.</p>
<p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The bill sets out to reverse chronic underinvestment in civic learning, <a href="https://www.icivics.org/news/product-announcement/new-white-paper-icivics-generation-citizen-makes-case-equity-and-diversity?" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">which now receives</a> just 5 cents in federal funding per student each year — compared with $50 per student annually for STEM education.</p>
<p>"I'm really heartened by the fact that the bill in the House and the bill in the Senate are bipartisan, despite the billion-dollar price tag," says Dubé. "That tells me that our political leaders recognize the depth of the problem. And it would be transformative for this field, for students and for educators."</p>
<p>The same hurdles that have plagued civic education for decades remain, of course. </p>
<p>Civic learning tends to get lost between the cracks of social studies, history and geography, can spook teachers wary of political controversies, and has triggered <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/what-is-civic-education" target="_self">partisan disputes</a> over whether students should learn facts and dates or how to transform communities. <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2018/02/21/446857/state-civics-education/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Only nine states</a> and D.C. required a full year of civics or government studies to graduate as of 2018, though dozens of state legislatures will be mulling bills in their 2021 sessions to mandate more civic learning.</p>
<p>President Trump has undermined civic education both directly and indirectly, <a href="https://www.edweek.org/education/opinion-trump-has-been-awful-for-civic-education/2020/10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">some argue</a>, by modeling uncivil behavior as well as by roiling partisan disputes over what students should learn. </p>
<p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><p>He has bullied and jeered at detractors, flouted the truth and the rule of law, assailed representative democracy with his unfounded voter fraud claims — and has now ended up as the first president impeached two times. Even as the nation grappled last year with racial reckoning, and students clamored for greater equity and diversity in classroom materials, Trump signed an executive order to promote "patriotic education" that <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-protecting-americas-founding-ideals-promoting-patriotic-education/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">he said</a> would counter efforts to "paint America as a systemically racist country."</p>
<p>The Trump era may also have created an opening for civic education, however.</p>
<p>Americans' civic knowledge actually increased in 2019, <a href="https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/americans-civics-knowledge-increases-2019-survey/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center</a>, a product of the president's constant clashes with Congress over budgets, immigration, impeachment and executive power. Trump's controversial presidency also helped spur record voter turnout, including among young Americans fired up over issues like race, global warming and gun safety.</p>
<p>Public support for civic learning cuts across party and ideology. Pollster Frank Luntz found in a survey last year that more than half of voters in both parties <a href="https://www.civxnow.org/sites/default/files/resources/CivXNow%20infographic%20-%20Luntz%20polling%20-%20FINAL.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">identified civic education</a> as the best way to strengthen American identity. </p>
<p>Curriculum standards for civics, history and social studies, which vary by state but which in many cases have drawn fire as outdated, facts-heavy and lacking diverse perspectives, may also be in for a reset. A bipartisan group of national educators is poised to unveil a new roadmap for civic learning with the help of <a href="https://ethics.harvard.edu/news/neh-and-department-education-award-650000-educating-american-democracy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a $650,000 grant</a> from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Education Department. </p>
<p>Led by iCivics — in collaboration with Arizona State, Harvard and Tufts universities — the roadmap is expected to stress critical thinking over rote memorization, and to encourage students to embrace and actively engage in constitutional democracy. To be unveiled in March, the project is dubbed "Educating for American Democracy: A Roadmap for Excellence in History and Civics Education for All Learners," and sets out to define what students should know with an emphasis on civic agency, equity, diversity and inclusion.</p>
<p>Both the roadmap and the $1 billion legislation may find allies in the top ranks of the new administration. Biden is poised to move the Education Department <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/10/933423976/what-a-biden-presidency-could-mean-for-education" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">in a new direction</a> and the new first lady, Jill Biden, is a community college professor. Betsy DeVos, Trump's only Education secretary until quitting last week after the mob stormed the Capitol, clashed with teachers and promoted controversial charter schools, but Biden <a href="https://joebiden.com/education/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">has pledged</a> to invest in teacher salaries and training.</p>
<p>The biggest hurdle facing the bill may be the coronavirus pandemic, which will continue to suck all the oxygen out of the education policy room until schools and politicians figure out a way to safely reopen classrooms and help students make up what they've lost during virtual learning. </p>
<p>Another challenge is that the Educating for Democracy Act will likely be considered as part of the reauthorization of the federal law governing federal aid to elementary and secondary schools, which invariably stirs up disputes over the shared role of states and the federal government over testing, standards and unfunded mandates.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Dubé is cautiously optimistic civic education may finally be ripe for revival. If nothing else, the mandate for it may never have been more evident. "Clearly, we are a nation so polarized as to be dysfunctional," she said. "And that polarization cannot keep going on in a system that asks for compromise."</p>
<p><em>Carney is a contributing writer.</em><em> She also heads The Civic Circle, a member of the CivXNow Coalition.</em></p>
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Go Nakamura/Getty Images
Sixteen percent of young people said they have volunteered for a political campaign, up from 7 percent in late 2018.
Young people found more ways to engage in politics in 2020
Jan 13 2021
Much has been made of the increase in voter participation among young people in 2020. But the act of casting a ballot represents just one method of civic engagement, and young people significantly increased their participation in other political activities last year.
New data released Tuesday by Tufts University's Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement found that nearly three times as many people ages 18 to 24 said in late 2020 that they have donated to a political campaign or registered others to vote, as compared to 2018. And the percent of young people who volunteered for a political campaign more than doubled in the same time frame.
<p><span></span>CIRCLE'S research team provided The Fulcrum with data comparing six forms of civic engagement for 18-24-year olds. The data is based on post-election polls, and the questions did not specify specific time frames for the engagements, meaning respondents could consider pre-2020 participation.</p>
<p>In addition to the big jumps in volunteering for campaigns, donating to campaigns and registering voters, the youth cohort showed modest increases in their efforts to convince others to vote and discussing political issues with friends.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ0OTI3NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODk1ODg0M30.DNeZFPQzARwybGuuDkcwif7JF4FAW1MOwdqXuXkM2qo/img.png?width=980" id="81d14" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9b32226ff6b9cfe9fb279d6b73256dba" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="962" data-height="584">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Source: CIRCLE at Tufts University<a href="https://templates.flourish.studio/1790/qq-ET00UhK6Z_a9iHVC8wSzlnNtjWKzk3KVstczQlBR4Ev0gVafcWcrSbWFhM3LN/?environment=editor&auto=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a></small></p><div style="display: none;"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ0OTI3NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODk1ODg0M30.DNeZFPQzARwybGuuDkcwif7JF4FAW1MOwdqXuXkM2qo/img.png?width=980" id="81d14" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6e0456299411cb8c8fb110c05a97afe0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="youth civic engagement in 2020" data-width="962" data-height="584"></div>
<p>One additional engagement, attending a march or demonstration, was compared to data from 2016. Four years ago, 10 percent of young people said they did so. The rate skyrocketed to 31 percent in 2020 — not surprising in a year of protests over racial injustice.<br></p>
<p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>"The 2020 election cycle further cemented the younger generation's capacity to organize and effect change, often based on their shared commitment to racial and environmental justice," said CIRCLE Director Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg.</p>
<p>The most recent data suggests that while young people on both ends of the political spectrum are inclined to find some way to engage in politics, Democrats are generally more positive about the role of their age group. Among people ages 18 to 29, nearly 90 percent of those who voted for Joe Biden said their generation should participate in decision making, has a responsibility to do so or has the power to effect change. Among those who voted for Donald Trump, those percentages were in the mid-70s.</p>
<p>"Now that the elections are behind us, young people are poised to seize their power to make change on issues they care about and to strengthen our democracy. They know that their continued engagement is needed now more than ever," said Alan Solomont, dean of Tisch College, which houses the CIRCLE program at Tufts.</p>
<p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><p>The 2020 survey was conducted by Gallup for CIRCLE. In 2016 and 2018, the program used the polling firm GfK.</p>
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Civic Ed
True
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Elected officials who spread disinformation, like the QAnon conspiracy theories, should be barred from public office, writes Bethume.
The Capitol mob was put down. The disinformation spreaders need to be defeated next.
Jan 12 2021
Berthume is a fellow at the Truman National Security Project, a progressive defense and foreign policy think tank.
<div></div><p>Last week's invasion of the Capitol by QAnon adherents and white supremacists, acting on the orders of the president of the United States and encouraged by members of Congress, demonstrated in clear and visceral terms that disinformation is an existential threat to the republic.</p><p>Elected officials who engage in disinformation must be banned from public life. The Biden administration must take this problem seriously and act now or risk the end of American society.</p><p>The case for taking concrete action on disinformation is clear. The goal is to blunt the weaponization of our national media environment by those who would use it to radicalize Americans. The violent failed coup attempt at the Capitol — and the simultaneous, correlated mob actions in Georgia, Washington, Kansas, Minnesota, Utah, Ohio, Arizona, Oregon, Michigan, Oklahoma, Colorado, California and Texas — was not an arbitrary incident. It was the outcome of a months-long disinformation campaign led by President Trump, joined by a wide array of Republican elected officials and amplified by mainstream right-wing media. </p><p>Our current information ecosystem encourages elected officials to lie and rewards them with power. It incentivizes platforms and media outlets to enable those who are ill-suited to public service to engage instead in destructive behavior. And it likewise rewards them with reach and profit. The attacks of Jan. 6 are the inevitable result.</p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The problem is too far gone to solve with existing mechanisms. A popular idea is to blame social media platforms, which they absolutely deserve. However, attempts to fix this problem at the platform level by using existing regulatory tools would take years. We do not have enough time to rely on this as a sole remedy. </p><p>In state capitals nationwide, legislators are preparing to use disinformation to justify anti-democratic measures that will further restrict access to the ballot and selectively criminalize legitimate protest. Conservative media still sits atop a high-speed pipeline of conspiracy theories born in the most extreme, pro-fascist, white nationalist corners of the internet. Right-wing outlets and Republican elected officials are already amplifying an obvious Big Lie: That those who attacked the Capitol were not pro-regime sectarian domestic terrorists, rioting in support of Trump's last desperate attempt to maintain his grip on power, but rather were the agents of antifa.</p><p>State governments not already captured by anti-democratic actors must take immediate legislative action to punish participation in disinformation campaigns by elected officials. The consequences must be real and have teeth: expulsion and removal from their posts and a lifetime ban on holding another public office. </p><p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><p>The Biden administration must go further and dedicate real resources to combating disinformation. The big picture reasons for this are clear: Such an effort would buttress democracy against the most corrosive and destructive force we face other than climate change, and it would help us work toward a future in which we can begin to repair the damage already done to our society.</p><p>The more practical reasons are just as urgent. An administration that does not immediately address this problem with sufficient people, money, big thinking and activist policies will be unable to govern because it will soon be paralyzed by disinformation on all fronts. Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, threats from foreign adversaries, the battered economy and the shortcomings of our social justice system will be impossible if the basic tenets of operating the federal government are besieged, again and again, figuratively and literally.</p><p>Disinformation is a national security crisis and represents an enormous vulnerability to threats both foreign and domestic. So it merits staff integration across multiple elements of the executive branch including the National Security Council, the Defense Department, the Justice Department, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.</p><p>This problem cannot be taken seriously enough, but it must first be taken seriously at all. It is a challenge to governance, human rights and democracy, and must be treated as such. Trump will leave office next week. But this problem will persist. Things will get worse.</p><div></div><p>Every political scientist knows the consequences for anyone participating in an attempted coup against the United States must be swift, harsh and public — or else the next attack will come soon and be worse. These consequences must reach and include the active participants in the disinformation campaign that generated the attack. This will serve as a necessary first step in an information war we must fight, or else face extinction.</p>
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Civic Ed
True
Bob Riha Jr./Getty Images
If more states offered a better civics curriculum, then perhaps 10 percent of college graduates wouldn't think Judge Judy serves on the Supreme Court.
My generation is not getting the education our governance requires
Dec 11 2020
Elbaum is a freshman at George Washington University.
<p>
Thomas Jefferson <a href="https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/educated-citizenry-vital-requisite-our-survival-free-people-spurious" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">famously said</a> that "an educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people." In other words, in order for the United States to survive as a democracy, its people must be informed.
</p><p>
Jefferson would be rolling in his grave if he saw the state of our country today. The people are far from informed, and that is putting our country in grave danger of collapse.
</p><p>
We live in a country where less than <a href="https://yubanet.com/usa/survey-only-32-percent-of-americans-able-to-correctly-name-all-3-branches-of-government/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">one-third</a> of people can name all three branches of the federal government, where<a href="https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/our-constitution-how-many-us-know-it" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> 70 percent</a> do not know the Constitution is the supreme law of the land — and where <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/19/politics/judge-judy-supreme-court-poll/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">10 percent</a> of college graduates believe Judge Judy is a justice of the Supreme Court.
</p><p>
If that is not scary enough, the picture is far more concerning among young Americans. <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/for-millennials-socialism-and-communism-are-hot-capitalism-is-not-2019-10-28" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Among millennials, 70 percent</a> say they would be "likely" to vote for a socialist candidate, 36 percent approve of communism, only <a href="https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/us-students-disturbing-lack-knowledge-about-slavery" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">8 percent</a> can identify slavery as the central cause of the Civil War and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/democracy-essential-millennials-increasingly-aren-t-sure-should-concern-us-ncna847476" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a quarter</a> say that "choosing leaders through free elections is unimportant." Young Americans are painfully ignorant of history, too. About <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/16/holocaust-us-adults-study" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a quarter</a> say they view the Holocaust as a myth or had been exaggerated and two-thirds do not know that as many as 6 million Jews were massacred. The bloody history of the Soviet Union is unknown as well; why else would the far-left economic and political systems of the 20th century be making a staggering rebound now?
</p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity," Martin Luther King Jr. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/6406-nothing-in-the-world-is-more-dangerous-than-sincere-ignorance" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a>. America is experiencing a pandemic of both right now.
</p><p>
Our deteriorated political discourse is an inevitable byproduct of our ignorance. Radical, revolutionary voices are being elevated over their calmer counterparts. Many in the Democratic Party are now embracing a vision of America that <a href="https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2020/07/Fox_July-12-15-2020_Complete_National_Topline_July-19-Release.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">condemns</a> it root-and-branch. They want to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/why-senate-filibuster-could-be-gone-2021/614278/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">end the filibuster</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/death-of-ruth-bader-ginsburg/2020/09/20/915048049/if-republicans-confirm-new-justice-scholars-say-democratic-court-packing-is-poss" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">add seats</a> to the Supreme Court. This is a recipe for an implosion of the American ideal. On the right, of course, the continued embrace of President Trump — who has expressed <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/23/trump-peaceful-transition-of-power-420791" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">antipathy</a> toward what should be the neutral principle of peaceful transitions of power — is also a reason for concern.
</p><p>
The American experiment has been the greatest and most successful experiment in governance in world history. Now it is at risk of being destroyed by the very people who benefit most from it. In order to restore our country, we must return to first principles. This happens through education.
</p><p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><p>
In suburban Chicago, I was lucky enough to be a part of the first class in my high school for whom a civics course was required. There was absolutely room for improvement but it was a necessary first step taken by my school. <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2018/02/21/446857/state-civics-education/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Colorado and Idaho</a> have exceptional civics curriculums. The former goes in-depth into American government and the latter emphasizes the importance of this education from a young age.
</p><p>
Their lead should be followed by others across the country. After all, there is a direct relationship between civics education in school and civics knowledge later in life.
</p><p>
If we want to create a more informed populous, we know what must be done. However, only <a href="https://www.aft.org/ae/summer2018/shapiro_brown#:~:text=Here%20is%20the%20current%20state,states%20have%20no%20civics%20requirement." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">nine states</a>, along with the District of Columbia, require a full year of civics in high school. To ensure that the root ideals of our country are passed onto the next generation, not only more widespread education but also better education is needed.
</p><p>
Our civics classrooms should highlight what makes the United States unique and why we live in a country worth defending. We must be teaching about the value of the separation of powers, checks and balances, an independent judiciary and democracy itself. An abandonment of age-old ideas becomes inevitable when education is not paramount.
</p><div>
</div><p>
It took almost 250 years to make America what she is today. It may only take one generation to see its collapse. The stakes are higher than ever, and it is up to us as to what path we will take.
</p>
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