Local officials applaud civics idea

As part of its Goals 2000 plan to improve secondary education, the Clinton administration suggested a civics and government curriculum for America’s schools to give students an appreciation of the fundamental values and principals essential to the preservation of democracy.

To that end, the U.S. Department of Education and The Pew Charitable Trusts, a Philadelphia-based philanthropic group, have spearheaded development of a booklet outlining proposed national standards for the teaching of civics.

The booklet, National Standards for Civics and Government, was two years in the making and involved input from nearly 3,000 individuals and groups. Its goal of putting civics back on the education front burner has been embraced by the Los Angeles-based Center for Civic Education (CCE), which headed up a national drive to see that more than 32,000 American school districts and elected officials received free copies of the booklet.

The initiative that resulted in the booklet was announced in November 1994. Since then, every state in the country has held public meetings on the matter, and many, such as California and Illinois, have incorporated the standards into their secondary schools, according to Barbara Branson of the CCE.

The report offers a solid framework for teaching students about the “ideas that underlie American democracy, such as the rule of law, civil society and individual rights, and for conveying to students an appreciation for democracy and the steps necessary to sustain it,” says Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, D.C.

It outlines goals and objectives in civics education for three different age groups. For example, while fourth graders should be able to understand that America is a nation of immigrants, formed to take in the politically oppressed, eighth graders should be able to identify and discuss such constitutional principles as freedom of speech and freedom from religious persecution. High school seniors, meanwhile, should be able to explain how those values have shaped our political institutions and influenced American history.

The new standards were necessary, Branson says, because “American history courses have [traditionally] given short shrift to those issues.”

“As Thomas Jefferson wrote, a nation cannot be both `ignorant and free’ [and thus] students who learn about different systems of government are better able to contrast the glory of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution with the barbarity of the the Third Reich,” says Michael Cohen, senior advisor to Secretary of Education Richard Riley.

But, to allay fears of another unfunded mandate, the federal government, which helped support the development of the standards, will not require any school district to implement them. Instead, those decisions will be left entirely to state and local leaders.

The plan pleases the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), which insisted on emphasizing greater understanding of state and local government.

“A strong knowledge of state and local government, as well as national government, is essential to ensuring that citizens understand the political process and are able to make informed decisions,” says Alfred Speer, vice chair of the NCSL and clerk of the Louisiana House of Representatives. “Public confidence in our governmental institutions will improve if these standards are achieved.”

And, according to some, if those goals are not achieved, our democracy may not crumble, but it will become increasingly difficult to govern.