America 101 and Civics Education

Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, in the Fall 2008 edition, had an article by Eric Lane titled "America 101". The header of the article states "How we let civic education slide—and why we need a crash course in the Constitution today."

The concept of Civics education is currently being touted as a high need for our students - a basic understanding of the Consntitution, the Amendments, the way government is structured, and the duty of the citizens under that government.

This is an interesting article, which you can read in its entirety here. I hope you take the opportunity to peruse it's eleven pages.

However, ALL of the Social Studies are in need of a revamping and a heightened interest. Yes, Civics is important, vital even. But so is the knowledge of American History and the history of the World we live in. So is the study of economics and personal finance. So is the study of geography and geographic awareness of nations and cultures. So is a myriad of other Social Studies content areas.

The state has focused on math, reading, and writing - and sort of science. Those are fine. But citizens cannot function in a nation-state with only intellectual knowledge unconnected to their past - a past presented in an unbiased manner, whether politically correct or not. Our legislators - both at the state and national levels - need to realize, accept, and support this.

Yes, we need to support increased interest - and funding - for the study and application of civics. But we need to do the same with the other areas of the Social Studies if we want to have a nation of citizens who understand where they came from historically, and how to survive economically.

Of course, maybe we have to start thinking of how we are teaching it as well.

Essential Question: What strategies can be used to enhance Social Studies education in our schools and our lives?

Legislative Updates

There are two bills – one in the Florida legislature, the other in the National Congress – pertaining to our field of Social Studies, more specifically American History and Civics. I would encourage you to take a few moments and visit the sites indicated for further information on the bills.

The Florida Legislature House Bill 13 is in PreK-12 Appropriations Committee. Titled Middle School Civics Education Assessment, this bill “provides requirements for civics education course that student must successfully complete for middle grades promotion beginning with students entering grade 6 in 2011-2012 school; requires administration of end-of-course assessment in civics education as field test at middle school level during 2011-2012 school year; provides requirements for course grade & course credit for subsequent school years; requires inclusion of civics education end-of-course assessment data in determining school grades beginning with 2012-2013 school year." For more information on this bill, or to follow its progress (or lack of it) through this legislative session, click here.

To keep up on a variety of issues in the Florida Legislature that concerns educators, and especially Social Studies instructors, bookmark the FCSS (Florida Council of Social Studies) and FASSS (Florida Association of Social Studies Supervisors) blog.

The US Senate bill S659 - titled Improving the Teaching and Learning of American History and Civics Act of 2009 - was proposed by Senators Kennedy, Byrd, and Alexander, and would consolidate many effective civic and historical programs and allocates funds to strengthen the upcoming 2010 NAEP assessment. It places an emphasis teaching American History and Civics in the public schools, and would seek to provide monies for training of teachers in these areas. For more information on this bill, or to follow its progress (or lack of it) through this legislative session, click here.

For Senator Alexander’s speech concerning this bill and the state of the study of American History and Civics, click here.

Will these bills become law? Hard to tell, with the economic cutbacks we’re facing. Right now it looks like Citrus County will face another five to eight million dollars in cutbacks from the monies received from the state. It is the fourth year in a row Civics-specific legislation has been proposed in the US Congress, and the umpteenth time in a row for the State legislature.

A wonderful book that I think all of our Congressmen should read is It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis (written in 1935) in which the country moves into a dictatorship for a variety of reasons. I haven’t read it since before most of you were born (I think it was in 1971) – but it was outstanding. The book serves as a warning that political movements akin to Nazism can come to power in countries such as the United States when people blindly support their leaders – and are unaware of their history or civic responsibilities. For a free online edition, click here.

Essential Question: How can students be encouraged to find and use information on bills that concern their future?

Florida Legislative Session and Will Rogers Quotes

As you know, the Florida Legislative Session for 2009 is underway. Some of the legislation will deal with the Social Studies.

Some proposed bills include:

-House bill 0013 and Senate bill 2174 would add Social Studies to the FCAT.
-House bill 1231 and Senate bill 2608 would create an appeals process for students marked for grade level retention. It would add history, civics, geography, arts, music, and physical education to the subjects required by statute to be considered in decisions about grade level promotion. Current law only requires consideration of reading, writing, science, and mathematics.
-House bill 1293 and Senate bill 2654 would require each high school to offer a minimum number of AP, IB or dual enrollment courses.

You can follow the progress of the bills by checking in at the Florida Senate homepage and typing in the bill number, or the Florida House homepage. More may be coming.

Of course, what is a legislative session without remembering Will Rogers – humorist, writer, movie star, and radio personality of the early 20th century. Research indicates that humor can get us through tough times - and with the budget shortfalls and economic situation, times are tough! So, here are 25 quotes from Will Rogers about our national Congress which could apply to our state legislature...

“A fool and his money are soon elected.”

“Remember, write to your Congressman. Even if he can’t read, write to him.”

“About all I can say for the United States Senate is that it opens with a prayer and closes with an investigation.”

“Instead of giving money to found colleges to promote learning, why don't they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as good as the Prohibition one did, why, in five years we would have the smartest race of people on earth.”

“Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing, and that was the closest our country has ever been to being even.”

“It takes nerve to be a Democrat, but it takes money to be a Republican.”

“Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?”

“A flock of Democrats will replace a mess of Republicans. It won’t mean a thing. They will go in like all the rest of ’em. Go in on promises and come out on alibis.”

“Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do.”

“Democrats never agree on anything, that's why they're Democrats. If they agreed with each other, they would be Republicans.”

“Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.”

“I bet after seeing us, George Washington would sue us for calling him "father."”

“I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!”

“Ain’t it funny how many hundreds of thousands of soldiers we can recruit with nerve. But we can’t find one politician in a million with backbone.”

“If I studied all my life, I couldn't think up half the number of funny things passed in one session of congress.”

“If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics.”

“It's a good thing we don't get all the government we pay for.”

“Last year we said, 'Things can't go on like this', and they didn't, they got worse.”

“The more you observe politics, the more you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other.”

“This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.”

“There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.”

“There ought to be one day - just one - when there is open season on senators.”

“You know how Congress is. They’ll vote for anything if the thing they vote for will turn around and vote for them.”

“Why sleep at home when you can sleep in Congress?”

“Papers say: “Congress is deadlocked and can’t act.” I think that is the greatest blessing that could befall this country.”