Opinion |

Declining interest in civic education hurts our democracy

Happy Constitution Day! If you somehow forgot to mark your calendar, you’re probably not alone. The federal observance was established by law in 2004, to commemorate the signing of the Constitution in 1787. Once it was called Citizenship Day.

When asked why the Constitution is so important, the Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor, former associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, said, “It is, quite simply, the most powerful vision of freedom ever expressed … neither so rigid as to be stifling, nor so malleable as to be devoid of meaning.”

O’Connor continued, “Our Constitution has been an inspiration that changed the trajectory of world history for the perpetual benefit of mankind. In 1787, no country in the world had ever allowed its citizens to select their own form of government, much less to select a democratic government. What was revolutionary when it was written, and what continues to inspire the world today, is that the Constitution put governance in the hands of the people.”

Considering all that the Constitution prescribes — when it comes to our systems of government and rights as Americans — it’s impossible to imagine our leaders coming together to create a modern-day version.

The act establishing Constitution Day requires federally funded educational institutions to provide instruction on the Constitution, in conjunction with the observance. For a lot of students, it may provide their only glimpse into the way American democracy is supposed to work. That’s bound to have consequences for the future of our country.

School districts across America have placed a rightful focus on reading and math curricula, to counter the learning losses that occurred during the pandemic. All the while, civics education has been relegated to second-tier status (or disappeared entirely), a trend that began in 2010.

According to nonprofit news organization Marketplace, that was the year Congress first shifted dollars toward STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and away from subjects like civics. In 2019, the federal government spent almost $3 billion on STEM education, compared with $4 million on civics — about 5 cents per student.

We are seeing the effects: In data released by the Department of Education earlier this year, eighth-graders scored worse on the history section of the National Assessment of Educational Progress than in any year since testing began in 1994. Fewer than 1 in 4 students achieved proficiency in civics.

Sal Khan, who leads Khan Academy, and Jeffrey Rosen, head of the National Constitution Center, have called this a crisis — one deepened by political polarization and efforts to limit the free exchange of ideas in school classrooms. In a Time magazine article earlier this year, Khan and Rosen wrote, “If we fail to teach our children the principles of democracy and the habits of civil dialogue necessary to sustaining it, we will endanger the American project. Instead of building a better future by finding common ground, they will only slide deeper into partisanship and extremism.”

Similarly, civic education has been all but abandoned on college campuses. Professors Debra Satz and Dan Edelstein of Stanford University have linked the trend to a spate of incidents involving free speech — specifically, attempts to rescind invitations or to silence controversial speakers.

In their recent New York Times essay, Satz and Edelstein blamed the decline in civic education, in part, on “vocationalism”: students deserting humanities classes in favor of preprofessional tracks, as they pursue lucrative careers. They wrote, “When universities do not signal the intrinsic value of certain topics or texts by requiring them, many students simply follow market cues.” Civic education, by contrast, is a public good.

It points to a larger conversation we continue to have: What is the purpose of education? Some years ago, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker tried to change the century-old mission of my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin. State code commands the university to “search for truth” and “improve the human condition.” Walker wanted the code to say “meet the state’s workforce needs” instead. He was roundly criticized and backed off.

I get Walker’s point, but education is about more than work readiness — it’s about preparing young people for a fulfilling life, giving them the tools needed to contribute to society. That means, in part, going beyond STEM to imbue in them the ability to listen and engage in respectful dialogue with people whose views differ from their own, learning that acceptance of differences makes us stronger as Americans.

It’s a core tenant of every civics course — and an idea all of us should be able to agree upon, no matter our politics.

Dinkin is president of the National Conflict Resolution Center, a San Diego-based group working to create solutions to challenging issues, including intolerance and incivility. To learn about NCRC’s programming, visit ncrconline.com