The U.S. Department of Education has published draft priorities for discretionary grant programs for next year and has invited public comment.
The current draft includes 15 priorities–none of which is civic education.
To read the department’s priorities you can go here and scroll down the page. On the upper-right-hand corner of the page you will see the words “Comment Now.” I hope everyone reading this will enter a comment. The deadline is July 24. Tell the Department of Education to include civic education as a priority.
National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) findings confirm that most of our students are not receiving a remotely adequate grounding in civics and government. Those findings are consistent with a massive amount of research documenting a widespread lack of knowledge about America’s political structure and government, and the omission of civic education from the draft priorities is inconceivable to me.
Basic civic knowledge operates like a common language–it allows us to communicate with each other. It is the foundation upon which so much else depends.
Please tell DOE that civics is essential, and that its omission is unacceptable!
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