Education is the key to state’s civic health

October 25, 2008

Education is the key to state’s civic health Florida’s Civic Health Index, a new feature of America’s Civic Health Index — the definitive statistical report on civics in the United States — ranks Florida 47th in civic health and near the bottom on such key indicators of our civic life as voter turnout (32nd), volunteering (47th), participation in public meetings (49th) and working with others to solve community problems (40th). The miserable state of our civic health puts Florida on the critical list. As a Florida resident, I am dismayed by how little we seem to do. We need look no further than our educational system to see how little. Florida ranks 45th in the nation in the percentage of entering high school freshmen who actually graduate. As the Florida Index observes, this means many Floridians not only face lives of economic hardship but of “second-class citizenship” as well. Paradoxically, I can think of no other state where education — particularly civic education — is more important than ours. Florida ranks 50th among states in the percentage of its population born here and fourth in the percentage of its people born outside the United States. Building anything like a cohesive civic culture in the coming years will depend on our ability to teach our national and local history, and to embed an ethic of service within the children of immigrants. Despite our own indifference to the importance of civic participation, we Floridians seem to believe it is good for our children. According to the Florida Index, about 70 percent of state residents support both requiring high school students to do community service and requiring them to pass a new test on civics and government. Legislation is expected to be introduced in the Legislature next session to include civics and government on the FCAT, and to require end-of-course exams at the high school level in civics. These provisions should be enacted. Michael Weiser, chair, National Conference on Citizenship, Miami Democracy withers if civics not taught Oct. 22, commentary by Bob Graham Graham stands tall Why are there so few people like Bob Graham? Why is the political class so devoid of statesmen of Sen. Graham’s stature? Possibly it is because of the dearth of real, informed, participatory citizenship, as noted by Graham in this article. Or is it due to the purging of old-fashioned civics classes from schools, and erasure of civics from public discussion and media in favor of uncivil tribal foolishness and reality TV programming, and teaching to tests, and the anti-Americanism of voucher schools? Learning civics, the way this older American was taught in my mandatory school years and by the likes of Walter Cronkite, is like reading the operating manual for your car or HDTV. Don’t read it, and you might not even figure out how to open the door, use the keyless ignition, or change satellite-service functions. If we don’t study our history and how the Constitution is supposed to work, can the ascendancy of special pleading and its effects, like subprime crashes and trillions in debt and an imperial presidency, be any surprise? But maybe that was the whole idea, intentionally or subliminally. Thank you, Sen. Graham, for once again increasing your stature by encouraging the rest of us to stand taller. Jon McPhee, St. Petersburg