Does your state have a bill to improve civics education?
The National Association of Scholars made a tool to help Americans track legislation that would improve civics education in their states’ school systems.
Civics education is under threat from "progressive propaganda and vocational training in radical action," said National Association of Scholars Director of Research David Randall.
The National Association of Scholars (NAS) created a toolkit for helping citizens track legislation promoting civics education in their K-12 and postsecondary schools.
The Civics Bill Tracker is a project of the association’s Civics Alliance, a group of scholars and activists “dedicated to defending and restoring true civics education across the United States.” As of April 9, the National Association of Scholars is tracking four federal bills and 142 state bills as they move through the legislatures.
Members of the public can access a Chart of the Bills spreadsheet including each bill’s goals, sponsors, and current status, as well as analysis from National Association of Scholars experts.
[RELATED: Marco Rubio targets Confucius Institutes with new bill]
For instance, NAS is tracking House Bill 319 in New Hampshire, which would require university and community college students in the state’s higher education system “to pass the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services civics naturalization test.” The bill is sponsored by six Republicans and one Democrat.
Senate Bill 2012 in New Jersey, which is sponsored by a lone Democrat, “appropriates total of $160,000 from General Fund to Rutgers University-Camden and Rutgers University-Newark to establish Civic Leadership Summer Program.”
Campus Reform has reported on the advance of similar bills in Republican-dominated legislatures. Many exist to counter the historically dubious claims of the 1619 Project and the ideas of critical race theory and intersectionality.
National Association of Scholars Director of Research David Randall told Campus Reform that “civics education is under serious threat from Action Civics, which would replace traditional civics education with thinly disguised community organization — progressive propaganda and vocational training in radical action.”
“The information will allow citizens to get in touch with their own state representatives and convey informed opinion on the legislation under consideration,” he added.
Campus Reform reached out to the National Association of Scholars for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
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