Last Friday was National Civics Day, a day I believe needs to be highlighted as we work to get civics education back into the classroom.

Last session, I introduced a bill that would require public schools, charter schools, and private schools to incorporate civics education in elementary through high school. The bill also included having a comparative discussion of other nations’ governing philosophies, including communism, socialism, and totalitarianism, and how these compare with the principles of freedom and representative democracy that the U.S. was founded on. Sadly. the bill was not brought up for a vote in the Senate.

According to the 2023 Annenberg Public Policy Center civics survey, "a substantial number of Americans cannot name all three branches of government," with one in six adults not being able to name a single branch. It also found many Americans don't know what rights are protected under the First Amendment. Click the link below to see the full survey results.

The basic understanding of how the U.S. government operates is severely lacking among students and adults. We need to do a better job of informing our citizens of the vital role we all play in our government to encourage civic pride and the desire to participate in government at all levels.