Model General Education Act Informs Utah Bill

Utah Senate Bill (SB) 334 has passed both houses of the Utah legislature and has been sent to Governor Spencer Cox for him to consider signing. SB 334, informed by the model General Education Act (which the National Association of Scholars partly drafted) and the Syllabus Transparency Act (entirely drafted by the National Association of Scholars) sets up an independent Center for Civic Excellence at Utah State University in charge of general education courses, and includes required courses on Western civilization and American civics as part of the general education requirements. There’s a strong hint that other public universities at Utah should do likewise.

The National Association of Scholars and the Civics Alliance are delighted at the prospect that this bill may become law! It provides a new administrative structure that should make it easier to put general education reform into practice. It makes Western Civ and American Civics required courses. And making Western Civ and American Civics into required courses should increase the number of prospective K-12 teachers in Utah who know these subjects and can teach them to their students. K-12 reform requires a new system of teacher education, and SB 334 not only starts the reform of teacher education in Utah but also provides a model for how other states can do the same.

Readers who look at SB 334 and the General Education Act will see that SB 334 puts a lot more trust in the college professors to teach according to the spirit of the law than did the General Education Act. The Civics Alliance strongly urges Utah legislators (should the bill become law) to conduct continuing oversight on the actual operation of the law at Utah State—and to pass more laws, if necessary. We would not need such laws in the first place if professors were eager to teach these sorts of courses.

But that is premature pessimism. It’s wonderful news that Utah may be reforming its general education requirements along the lines suggested by the General Education Act—wonderful news not just for higher education, but also for K-12 civics education. We commend Utah’s legislators, and we hope that Governor Cox will swiftly sign this bill.

Kentucky Social Studies Standards

Kentucky is proceeding in its social studies standards revision cycle. Right now, it’s calling for applications for the Social Studies Standards and Assessment Review Committee (RC) and Advisory Panels (AP). If you’re a Kentucky teacher, please do consider applying. Kentucky also seeks feedback on its existing standards—although the format only allows for suggestions in detail, rather than suggestions for strategic revision. The Civics Alliance plans (cross fingers!) to send in a general comment to the Kentucky Department of Education. Anyone else interested in writing a general comment—especially someone from Kentucky—please do send an email to David Randall (randall@nas.org).

South Dakota Social Studies: Oceti Sakowin Imposition Rejected

South Dakota’s legislature considered, but rejected a bill to mandate the teaching of the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings in South Dakota’s public schools. We are glad the legislature did so. The Oceti Sakowin is at best pious, mawkish puffery of American Indians that should not be taught, much less required, in the classroom. At worst, it might be a gateway toward incorporating “settler colonial” interpretations of American Indian history into South Dakota social studies instruction. South Dakota is better off without.

We understand, of course, that the natural American impulse to be kind and welcoming to all citizens facilitates this sort of imposition. Many of South Dakota’s citizens are Indian, or of Indian descent; the desire to be friendly to a neighbor is strong. But politicization and identity politics are, alas, the bread and butter of social studies education in the public schools nowadays; the truer American impulse must be to make a common American history for all Americans—and a common South Dakotan history for all South Dakotans.

Readers of Resolute should remember that the politicizers of our civics and history instruction misuse the best instincts of Americans—their decency and generosity. Our own work also should draw upon Americans’ fine character, but for better ends.

Articles and Resources Worth Reading

American Experiment, MDE’s Ethnic Studies Framework for Implementation.

Martin Center, Blueprint for Reform: Teacher Preparation.

Open the Books, State of the State Schools. 

Testimony

Would you like to be on a list of people prepared to give testimony in favor of a state bill to reform civics education? If so, please get in touch with me: randall@nas.org. We need people ready to testify in all 50 states—ideally, with some personal tie to the education system, but testimony from any citizen would be good.

Civics Alliance Now Has Eleven State Affiliates 

The Civics Alliance is building a network of state affiliates—groups dedicated to removing action civics in their states, whom we will list on our website. We now have eleven affiliates, in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Texas. If you would like to form such an organization, or suggest an existing organization, please get in touch with David Randall (randall@nas.org).

Monthly American Birthright Zoom Meeting 

The Civics Alliance will have its monthly Zoom session devoted to social studies standards reform on Monday, April 7, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time. Please email randall@nas.org if you would like to join these monthly Zoom meetings.

Social Studies Standards Revision Schedule 

2025/Current: Arizona, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

2026: Colorado, Maryland, North Dakota, South Carolina

2027: Hawaii, Kansas

2029: Louisiana

2030: Minnesota

2031: Illinois

No Revision Currently Scheduled: California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington.

Please email David Randall (randall@nas.org) if you are interested in further information about your state’s social studies revision process, and what you can do to participate.

Continuing Priorities: Federal Legislation 

At the federal level, the Civics Secures Democracy Act threatens to impose action civics nationwide.

The Civics Bill Tracker 

Civics Alliance supporters may now use the Civics Bill Tracker to track all proposed federal and state legislation related to civics.

Public Action 

We encourage Civics Alliance supporters to inform the public and policymakers about the stakes and consequences of action civics bills.

David Randall is the Executive Director of the Civics Alliance and Director of Research at the National Association of Scholars

Photo by Chase Charaba on Unsplash