Engaged citizens built America. Today, civics education is coming back.
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Scott Baldauf Staff writer
| Bethesda, Md.
At a recent national championship for civics students here, a team of four students from Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut, is asked: What are the challenges of celebrating landmark dates of a nation鈥檚 past while still acknowledging the evolution beyond those historic circumstances?
The students are well prepared, and quote chapter and verse from the Founding Fathers, as well as key events in American history.
One student parses a quote from John Adams in a , written before the Declaration of Independence was finalized. While Adams could foresee 鈥渢he Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us,鈥� he predicted that 鈥渢he End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
American self-rule depended on an educated public as the 鈥渟afe depositories of their own liberty,鈥� Thomas Jefferson wrote. The reservoir of civics knowledge appears depleted, but there are signs that Americans鈥� level of engagement with their government is rising.
The student is not persuaded. 鈥淲ho gets to decide whether the ends justify the means?鈥� she asks, adding that the answer depends on one鈥檚 perspective. 鈥淭he government will say that its actions are justified, but it鈥檚 the people that we need to ask.鈥�
America was founded 250 years ago on the notion that the government derives its power from the people it governs. In a world dominated by monarchies, this notion was radical, and the Founding Fathers knew their experiment in people power would work only if those people were educated in how government works, and were engaged in selecting representatives who reflected their priorities. Thomas Jefferson 鈥淭he people are the safe depositories of their own liberty, and ... are not safe unless enlightened.鈥�
How engaged are Americans today in their own democracy? There are signs that Americans鈥� basic understanding of civics is increasing, with more than being able to name the three branches of government, according to a September 2025 report from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. This is up from before. Yet only 聽to do what is right, according to a Pew Research Center survey in September 2025.
In American schools, there is a growing revival of civics education that could sustain the positive momentum toward engaged citizenship. Growing numbers of schools that had relegated civics classes to after-school activities are bringing back civics as a graded course. National and grassroots organizations such as the Center for Civic Education, iCivics, CivxNow, and the Bill of Rights Institute are working with state boards of education to create new curricula and opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge in state and national competitions.
鈥淚n many cases, that progress is incremental, but it鈥檚 also cumulative,鈥� says Shawn Healy, who leads the state and federal policy advocacy work for iCivics, a nonprofit organization that promotes civics curriculum for schools. Since 2021, a total of 34 states have passed legislative bills to strengthen their civics education policies and Congress has quadrupled funding for K-12 civics.
Those states have adopted policies that broadly promote civics education at the high school, middle school, and elementary levels, Mr. Healy says. 鈥淚f they had zero, let鈥檚 get six months. If we had six months, let鈥檚 make it a year.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e heading in the right direction,鈥� says Danielle Allen, a professor of political science and director of Democratic Knowledge Project-Learn at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, 鈥渂ut we鈥檙e starting from a low point.鈥�
A civics education renewal
How are today鈥檚 students being prepared for their future tasks as adult citizens?
Dr. Allen says that fewer students have access to civics education today, thanks to two trends in American education. One is the emphasis placed on core subjects such as math, reading, and science, and mandated annual testing of third to eighth graders on those subjects. Because school funding was tied to performance in reading and math scores, many schools favored those subjects and cut or reduced other programs, including civics and social studies.
The second trend, Dr. Allen says, is the growing debate about what constitutes 鈥渜uality鈥� civics education, and who gets to define it. The growing friction in American society over America鈥檚 past 鈥� the legacy of slavery and how that impacts modern attitudes on race, and the role of religion in a multicultural society 鈥� has found its way into classrooms and parent-teacher meetings. And many schools have dealt with that friction by reducing civics education to a bare minimum, Dr. Allen says. 鈥淭hat polarization is what has kept students from having rich civics educational experiences,鈥� she says.
Mr. Healy says that the improvement and reintroduction of civics education are signs of a 鈥渂road awakening.鈥�
Twelve states 鈥� representing 700,000 students 鈥� have adopted new middle school and high school course requirements. And in the near future, the National Assessment of Educational Progress is expanding and revising its assessment tests for civics, and will provide state-by-state comparisons for eighth graders for the first time.
鈥淭here鈥檚 increasingly a bipartisan consensus that schools have this historic mission to develop young people for their engagement in our constitutional democracy, and we are largely failing at that mission to our detriment,鈥� Mr. Healy says. 鈥淪o there鈥檚 just renewed energy here.鈥�
Nicholas Longo, director of the Rutgers Democracy Lab at Rutgers University, says young people want to be engaged, and when they have opportunities, they do great things. In these tumultuous and highly polarized times, teaching young people civics skills can have a profound impact on society, he says.
鈥淲e need to figure out how to find common ground,鈥� Professor Longo says. 鈥淪o I think there鈥檚 some basic civic skills that we all need to have. And it should be built into our educational settings. How do you get good as a musician, as an athlete? You get good through practice.鈥�
Civics 鈥淪uper Bowl鈥�
At the 2026 We the People National Finals, held at the Montgomery Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland, students practice the craft of citizenship with lucid presentations, documented examples, and nerves of steel.
In mock congressional hearings, teams of blue-blazered scholars grapple with current legal issues of national importance, and present their case to a panel of judges, scholars, and public officials. Judges ask follow-up questions and give feedback, and when they file out, the students and their supporters pause until the door shuts before erupting into a pandemonium of applause, cheers, and high-fives.
Gabe Perkins, from Sheridan High School in Sheridan, Wyoming, says that civics is important because democracies are often fragile and prone to fail.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a big kind of uprise going on right now as we reach the 250th anniversary, and democracies have been known to fail once they reach around 200 years,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o I think it鈥檚 really important that we see what has happened in the past and really kind of embrace and lean in to that, and learn what we can do differently in the future.鈥�
Charlotte Oade, a team member from Reno High School in Reno, Nevada, says that understanding the past and how government works is important to her.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still recovering from things that happened in the past. And we have to remember, because it is what has shaped us currently. Things like slavery or internment camps are negative things in America鈥檚 history that we aren鈥檛 proud of, but they did make us the way we are, and we have to accept that they happened and learn from them.鈥�
Future leaders
Terita Walker, principal of Denver East High School, traveled with her school鈥檚 team to the We the People National Finals.
鈥淭hese [will be] our future lawyers, supreme court justices. Several of our former students who came out of this program are now lobbyists and judges,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 think the foundation of learning for us is the importance of student voices, student action. The students take what they learn in this program and become leaders in other spaces.鈥�
Donna Phillips, president and CEO of the Center for Civic Education, says that despite the 鈥渃ulture wars鈥� and polarization in America, there is growing interest in civics education. Teaching students about the U.S. Constitution is a great way of giving students the tools that can help them resolve differences, she says.
鈥淭he great thing is that right now, because of the semiquincentennial, there鈥檚 a lot of attention to this,鈥� she says. 鈥淓veryone wants to save democracy. Everyone wants our democracy to be good and to thrive.鈥�
Editor's note: The misspelling of CivxNow has been corrected.聽
