Small Budgetary Step From Congress Is Huge Gain for Civics
Just under the deadline, Congress coalesced and passed a massive spending bill that will keep the lights on in Washington through the end of this fiscal year – but within that $1.7 trillion spending package was a relatively small line item that could mean a lot to sustaining and strengthening our constitutional democracy.
The omnibus appropriations bill includes a significant increase in funding for K–12 civic education, from the current $7.75 million to $23 million. While that may pale in comparison to other budgetary allocations, it represents a substantial down payment on the historic civic mission of our K-12 schools, moving us closer to ensuring equitable access to high-quality civic learning opportunities for all students.
Specifically, the bill builds upon the existing $3 million appropriation for American History and Civics Academies by appropriating $20 million for a competitive grant program, “Civics National Activities,” for eligible institutions using evidence-based practices “to improv[e] teaching and learning about the history and principles of the Constitution of the United States.”
Evidence-based practices include classroom instruction in civics, government, and history; community service tied to classroom instruction; simulations of democratic processes; student voices in school governance; and media literacy. Eligible institutions include colleges, universities, and education nonprofit organizations.
For Congress, it is a small but significant step that will hopefully lead to further action in the near future. Increased appropriations for the next fiscal year hopefully indicate that Congress is starting to hear a constituency that is trying to tell its representatives that they want more civic education for our nation’s children.
This fall, the firm Cygnal queried more than 3,000 likely voters, with an oversample of K-12 parents from both parties and Republican primary voters. Nearly 80 percent of respondents from both parties support civic education, while nearly 70 percent said that civic education is more important now than it was just five years ago. And 65 percent of respondents supported more funding of civic education.
To be sure, civic education needs more funding, but the federal government has started to invest after years of neglect. Those who have pushed for increased attention for civics should take a moment and celebrate.
Now the real work starts. And it starts with states strengthening civics requirements and scaling evidence-based practices in partnership with schools and providers of civic education programming. Our students deserve to be given the knowledge and skills needed to be engaged members of our self-governing society.
Classroom by classroom, educational opportunity by educational opportunity, we can give our students the concrete skills and tangible tools needed to take up their roles in sustaining and strengthening our constitutional democracy as it approaches its semiquincentennial.
Shawn Healy is the Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at iCivics. iCivics founded the CivXNow Coalition, which now has more than 260 organizational members from across the country and viewpoint spectrum working to elevate civic education as a national priority.
