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Civics education is basic education

Knowledge of Civics and how a Democratic government works are at an all-time low. A survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that only 26 percent of Americans can name all three branches of government, which was a significant decline from previous years. Lack of real knowledge leads to real consequences. Public engagement with government is almost non-existent. Voter participation has reached its lowest point since 1996. Only 64% of the voting-eligible population in the U.S. voted in the 2024 election. The lack of knowledge of how our democracy is supposed to work leads to a lack of public trust in government. According to the Pew Research Center (www.people-press.org/2017/05/03/public-trust-in-government-1958-2017) public trust in government is at only 18 percent.; hardly enough to build a foundation of belief in our democracy.

Our educational system is partly to blame for the lack of knowledge. For many decades STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) has been prioritized by both federal and state governments. The time devoted to civics has declined due to unintended consequences of other educational focuses. The demand for qualified workers for new technology has pressured curriculum designers at the state and federal level to encourage school systems to spend more time on STEM and Reading during the school day through funding and the use of tests results to “grade” school districts.

Federal spending for a child in STEM education is estimated to be $54.00 a child, compared to $0.05 per school child in civics (https://defense360.csis.org/bad-idea-prioritizing-stem-education-at-the-expense-of-civic-education).

The courses offered in schools have changed in the last 3 decades. Only nine states and the District of Columbia require one year of U.S. government or civics, while 30 states require a half-year, and the other 11 states have no civics requirement. This federal education policy has focused on improving academic achievement in reading and math at the expense of government courses. Most states have dedicated insufficient class time to understanding the basic functions of government.

Nationwide, students score very low on the Advanced Placement Test (AP) U.S. government exam. The national average AP U.S. government exam score is 2.64 out of 5, which is lower than the average AP score of all the other AP exams.(https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/research/2016). Unfortunately, the lack of civics education isn’t the only negative consequence in children’s acquisition of information.

Half of 18- to 29-year-olds in the U.S. say they have some or a lot of trust in the information they get from social media sites. The Pew Research Center found, 4 out of 10 young adults get their news from TikTok. TikTok is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short videos. The app is used by young people as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing, and allows users to create videos and share them across a community. The site is monitored by the Chinese government to gather data and to influence content. This is hardly the place we want our young generation to get their information.

Civic learning designed by American professional educators needs to be the main source of information for the next generation. Well-designed school courses in civics develop the democratic knowledge, skills, and dispositions of the young. Citizens who are civically well-informed, productively engaged, and hopeful about democracy result in an effective and just government. Education provides citizens with an understanding of the mechanics of democracy, our rights and freedoms and the importance of exercising those rights. Civic education also teaches individuals about their local and national government structures, the principles of democracy, as well as a citizen’s responsibilities. Parents, teachers, and politicians need to re-think the priorities of our curriculum and make their voices heard.

Joy Cowdery is a member of Living Democracy: Engaging Citizens a local citizen group. Our mission is to inform and educate the Mid-Ohio Valley about how government works on the local, state and federal levels and how citizens can be involved to make our democracy work. Join us the third Mon. of each month. livingdemocracymov@gmail.com and facebook/speak foryourselfvote and Youtube channel Living Democracy

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