Emphasizing civics education will create a more engaged citizenry and stronger republic.
March 20, 2010
Throwing the bums out is a bedrock check of American democracy. Yet, the wretched reality today is that many younger Americans would be hard-pressed to declare which bums deserve the boot.
Consider: Only 48 percent of 15-to-26-year-olds surveyed in 2002’s "The Civic and Political Health of the Nation: A Generational Portrait" could name their governor’s political affiliation; a dismal 22 percent knew the controlling party in their state legislature.
Where have you gone, Schoolhouse Rock?
Not all was lost, however. Eighty-two percent identified the stomping grounds of TV’s beloved dysfunctional cartoon clan, The Simpsons.
D’oh!
Or is it, duh!?
Those troubling results mirror a familiarly dim civic climate here in the Sunshine State, called "one of the worst" civic cultures in the nation in a recent state report.
We agree. Yet, while state lawmakers have entertained the notion of acting to remedy the state’s ailing civic health, they’ve foolishly have let bills to strengthen civic education die the past two years. The state House’s unanimous approval Thursday of a bill to that would require middle-schoolers take a civics course and pass an end-of-course test is a hopeful step. Now, lawmakers must follow-through this time.
Advocates foresaw a civics famine in 1998, pushing for social studies inclusion in state testing.
Even as the push gained traction, civics education in the FCAT era lost footing in elementary schools.
Yet, civics education continued losing its footing.
A 2007 Stetson University study found that teachers at best dedicated two hours a week to social studies. Often, even the truncated civics lessons are shunted aside for school photos and career day.
No wonder almost half of fourth-graders in a 2006 national civics assessment failed to identify America’s two dominant political parties. And no wonder Floridians score low in voting, volunteering and engaging in community meetings, according to the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship’s recent "civic health index."
"If we are serious about educating young people to be wise and reflective participants in our democracy, they should be required to take a civics course with solid content and be held accountable for what they learned," says Lucien Ellington, co-editor of a think-tank report, "Where Did Social Studies Go Wrong?" and education professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "The basic question is do we want education for democratic citizenship or not?"
The "Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Civics Education Act" bills (S.B. 1096, H.B. 105) provide an affirmative answer. Under the bills, sponsored in the House by Jacksonville Republican Charles McBurney, and in the Senate by Venice Republican Nancy Detert, seventh-graders would take a civics course. Eventually, promotion from middle school would be tied to passing a statewide civics test, which would factor into schools’ annual A-to-F grades. Good. Additionally, the Senate bill mandates the inclusion of "civics-related content" in language-arts materials for all grades.
With lawmakers looking for burning-bush miracles to resolve a $3 billion budget deficit, some argue the state simply can’t afford it. Here’s a cost analysis: Creating a new civics standardized exam: about $350,000. Annual cost of testing: about $1.5 million. Damage to our representative democracy if civics education remains marginalized: huge.
Studies consistently show civics education changes attitudes, boosts knowledge of the democratic process, and inspires student engagement. Democracy, as someone once said, is not a spectator sport. As U.S. Judge Robert H. Jackson said: "It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error."
If Florida’s kids are to recognize when the political machine malfunctions, they must be taught. Passing a law to help produce a new generation of informed and engaged citizens is a vote for democracy.
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