In Connecticut, elementary school students learning civics have gone back to the basics. But in a big way.
As detailed by the Associated Press (Herald, Dec. 7), 4,400 fifth-grade students are voting to elect the state’s new “kid governor.” It is part of a program to ensure public school students learn more about their government, participatory democracy and good citizenship. The winner will serve for one year, devise a plan to deliver on campaign promises and make public speeches.
It is a giant step up from the usual single-school elections for student officers – useful, but at times criticized as popularity contests – and tied to a renewed effort to teach the fundamentals of civics.
It is also an idea that might work well in Colorado.
Connecticut is one of many states pushing basic civics education, a subject that, school critics say, has fallen by the wayside in an era focused on student performance on standardized language and math tests.
That public school graduates lack a functional understanding of civics is demonstrated in the lack of civil discourse in government today, they say, and most evident during election campaigns where bad behavior results in cynicism and low voter turnout.
“Civic education is how we prepare people to be good citizens, which was the original purpose of public schooling in the United States. It’s pretty badly needed,” says Peter Levine, director of the Massachusetts-based Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
Our local schools are aware of the importance of civics, of course, and the subject is not ignored. This fall, dozens of mock elections were held in local classrooms, votes were cast and the complexities of our election system explained and explored.
But can more be done? The Durango High School course catalog, for example, does not offer a pure civics course among its social studies offerings.
Some state legislators think so. In April, Senate Bill 48, which would have required high school students to pass the civics portion of the federal exam given to prospective U.S. citizens in order to graduate, narrowly failed passage.
State Sen. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, summed up her opposition this way:
“I want students who think. I do not want students who just regurgitate facts.”
She has a point, but may be missing the entire picture. What we need is well educated young citizens who can do both.
