Critics Worry Bipartisan Civics Secures Democracy Act will Promote Leftist Agenda
The lessons taught to children today are the values we will live in our future when they run the world. That is why there is an intense battle in U.S. schools over who gets to determine the curriculum.
Schools have veered beyond the classic core subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic and moved into teaching values; topics that, until recently, were reserved for parents. There are countless examples of schools teaching critical race theory, gender and sexual identity, myopic politics, and religion.
Using civic engagement—attending school board meetings and organizing with others—parents have demanded that schools remove teachings that are outside their values.
Now a bipartisan congressional bill says it aims to teach students more about U.S. civics, the Civics Secures Democracy Act, but it has some concerned that it will enable the government to guide curriculum in a direction that parents don’t support, and ultimately indoctrinate students into leftist causes.
The bill spends $1 billion a year and authorizes the Department of Education to award grants to states, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and qualified researchers to support and expand access to civics and history education. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and John Cornyn (R-Texas).
The measure will “help states close key gaps in students’ history and civics educations,” a statement from Cassidy explained. “Only nine states and the District of Columbia require a full year of civics or government studies, and 10 states have no requirement at all. At the same time, American trust in public institutions is near all-time lows.”
Defining Civics
Civics Secures Democracy was initially introduced last, but it has been rewritten.
“The trouble is, when education professionals say civics, what they actually mean is ‘action civics’ with vocational training in progressive activism, in the classroom. You know, action civics—protest civics,” David Randall told The Epoch Times. Randall is director of research at of the National Association of Scholars and Education Director at the Civics Alliance, which seeks to reform education by supporting intellectual freedom, truth, and virtuous citizenship. These groups oppose the act.
By Beth Brelje
