The cost of not teaching civics in our schools

 This chart shows the degree to which Trump and other Republicans get the support of less educated Americans despite the fact that Republicans in their policies dramatically favor the upper classes. Further, it used to be assumed that less wealthy and less educated Americans naturally supported the Democrats but in recent decades that has shifted. One important reason that is not talked about much: the decline in teaching civics in our schools.  Here are excerpts of two articles on this topic: 

 Forbes - For years.... most of our schools have been derelict in teaching kids what used to be called “civics,” the fundamentals of U.S. history and our system of government. This abysmal ignorance is shocking. There is a simple solution: Have our schools teach civics based on the naturalization test given to immigrants who want to become citizens. Before being granted citizenship, an immigrant must learn the essentials of the United States’ form of government and critical events in our country’s history. In the latest version of the exam, a candidate must study and absorb answers to 128 questions, 20 of which could be asked on the test. One must get at least 12 answers correct to pass. 

Areas of study on the naturalization test include American government, U.S. history and American symbols and holidays. Questions can include: Name one thing the U.S. Constitution does. What does the Bill of Rights protect? Why is the Declaration of Independence important? Why are there three branches of government? What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? Describe one of the four amendments to the U.S. Constitution that concern voting rights. There are history questions as well: What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for? Name one reason that the Americans declared independence from Britain. Why did the U.S. enter World War II? Why is Martin Luther King Jr. famous? .... It’s shameful that newly minted Americans know far more about their new country than most of us who are born citizens. The civics test for naturalization should be made a core course in our schools. 

Ballard Brief - The lack of quality education in the United States is characterized by an insufficiency of quality curriculum, deficiency of support for teachers, and a lack of legislative action.

• High-quality civic studies courses, which emphasize critical thinking about current political events, increased the rate that students talk about current events with their peers by 15%.
• Taking a civic education course has been shown to increase a person’s likelihood to vote by 3% to 6%.
• Textbook-based and memorization-focused civic education has less than a 1% effect on voter turnout.
• When current issue discussions become contentious, 92% of teachers will “shut down” conversations between students to avoid partisan contention.
• Federal funding for civics is paid out from the Department of Education through competitive grants, totaling 2.15 million spent in 2021, compared to the 546 million paid out to STEM subjects in 2020.