American civics education gets bipartisan boost
Three senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that would provide financial incentives for K-12 schools and universities to emphasize American civics and history.
Schools with courses on American political thought, democracy, and civic participation will be eligible for grant money.
Three senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that would provide financial incentives for K-12 schools and universities to emphasize American civics and history.
Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Chris Coons (D- DE), and John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the USA Civics Act of 2022 on June 14. It is currently before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee.
Schools with courses on American political thought, democracy, and civic participation will be eligible for the grant money, according to the legislation.
Grants would go towards applicable centers, programs, educational initiatives, and outreach activities.
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”Learning about America’s rich history and what makes our political process unique is essential to preserving democracy,” Cornyn said in a press release. “This legislation would promote civics education in schools and universities and support teachers as they inspire young Texans to be engaged citizens.”
In addition, Coons and Cornyn teamed up to introduce an additional bill last Monday that would provide further financial support for American civics education.
The Civics Secures Democracy Act would establish a Civics Secures Democracy Fund that would pledge $1 billion annually to assist civics and history programs. The money would refurbish programs extinguished during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The money would be divvied up among state education agencies, nonprofits, higher education, and research. One hundred-fifty million of the total amount is allocated for colleges and universities to support “educator preparation” and “ongoing development.”
The senators were joined by four additional lawmakers in co-sponsoring the legislation, including Angus S. King Jr. (I-ME), James M. Inhofe (R-OK), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
Campus Reform has contacted every lawmaker mentioned for comment and will update this article accordingly.
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