Schools Need an Infusion of Civic Education

In January 2012 the Obama administration released a document, a call to action, titled “Advancing Civic Learning and Engagement in Democracy.” Has anything changed?

Sadly, the answer is no.

Since the 1980s American democracy—and with it public education—has been hijacked by corporate oligarchs whose bought-and-paid-for “conservative” lawmakers have overrun Congress and many state legislatures. The result has been a deluge of anti-democratic laws and utter stagnation on key concerns upon which the future of the United States turns, such as education and infrastructure, which are suffering at every level.

While gerrymandering and roadblocks to voting have been fostered by rightwing forces, the real stumbling block to progress has been voter apathy. Congress consistently acts contrary to the will of the people because, although many people are willing to answer opinion polls, far fewer are motivated to exercise their right to vote. Voter apathy is an international embarrassment. Some 60% of eligible U.S. voters don’t regularly vote, and among low-income voters the non-voting numbers rise to around 80%. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance ranks the United States 120th in the world for average national turnout.

Voting is fundamental to the maintenance of a democracy. It’s no wonder that American democracy is giving way—some would argue, has already given way—to corporate oligarchy, in which wealth governs regardless of the will of the people. Lincoln’s “government of the people, by the people, for the people” has become “government of the poor, by the corrupted, for the rich.” The demise of American democracy cannot be slowed or reversed until the right to vote is seen as an obligation to vote.

Education for democracy at all levels, from kindergarten to the public forum, must be given a central place in our national conversation. And the conversation must lead to action. In the schools, it must become every educator’s role to foster awareness of democratic values, to infuse civic education throughout the curriculum, and to give young people opportunities to exercise democratic values.

Among the steps identified in the “Advancing Civic Learning” report are a couple that merit highlighting:

·      Convene and catalyze schools and postsecondary institutions to increase and enhance high-quality civic learning and engagement.

·      Support civic learning for a well-rounded K-12 curriculum.

We need to ask, not only of our federal government but also our state and local governments, what has been done to accomplish the first of these? And we need to ask our public schools, despite the perversity of the present test mania, where is civic learning for a “well-rounded K-12 curriculum”?

The full “Advancing Civic Learning” report and more can be found at https://www.ed.gov/civic-learning. It is a call to action that must be taken seriously.