Introduction
Radical activists seek to transform all education into political activism to advance “social justice.” Their favored pedagogy is “service-learning,” and they particularly focus on using civics education as a Trojan horse for their revolutionary project, by turning civics education, under names such as action civics, new civics, civic engagement, project-based civics, and global civics, into radical propaganda and vocational training for social justice activism. Revolutionary action civics has infiltrated all levels of education, and radical activists now threaten to impose it by state legislation.
Legislation to bar “service-learning” from public K-12 classrooms is urgently needed. Our model bill is the Classroom Teaching Act (CTA).
Model Legislation: The Classroom Teaching Act
The Act focuses on eliminating service-learning pedagogy from public K-12 schools—and from any tax-supported activity. The Act bars funding any “Service-learning,” “Service-learning Coordinator,” or “Service Sponsor,” as defined by the federal legislation that authorizes federal expenditures for these three items. The Act uses the federal definition partly because it provides a clear, legally enforceable definition and partly because it gives states a tailored means to bar all federally funded service-learning within their borders.
The Act can be narrowed to apply to any smaller category of state spending. The Act’s language can also be appended to other bills.
Model Legislative Text
WHEREAS, true education should take place in the classroom; and
WHEREAS, a public school best serves the community when it imparts classroom knowledge; and
WHEREAS, individuals and private organizations should perform service purely as a volunteer activity, without reward in the form of school credit;
WHEREAS, respect for the liberties of students and teachers, the views of a politically diverse citizenry, and the tradition of institutional neutrality that flows from these, means that service for any private entity has no place in formal education; and
WHEREAS, the ability of the citizens of the state of [state name] and its school districts to control K-12 curriculum content through their elected representatives should not be ceded to private entities; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED:
SECTION A
No funds disbursed by the state of [state name] may fund, facilitate, or in any way support any “Service-learning” “Service-learning Coordinator” or “Service Sponsor”.
SECTION B
If any provision of this chapter, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this chapter and the application of its provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
DEFINITIONS
- “Service-learning” means a method— (A) under which students or participants learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service that— (i) is conducted in and meets the needs of a community; (ii) is coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, institution of higher education, or community service program, and with the community; and (iii) helps foster civic responsibility; and (B) that— (i) is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the students, or the educational components of the community service program in which the participants are enrolled; and (ii) provides structured time for the students or participants to reflect on the service experience.
- “Service-learning coordinator” means an individual who provides services including— (A) planning of school-based service-learning programs, through distribution by State educational agencies, territories, and Indian tribes of State or Federal funds made available to local educational agencies and Indian tribes, which planning may include paying for the cost of— (i) the salaries and benefits of service-learning coordinators; or (ii) the recruitment, training and professional development, supervision, and placement of service-learning coordinators; and (B) providing services that may include— (i) identifying community partners; (ii) assisting in the design and implementation of a service-learning program; (iii) providing technical assistance and information to, and facilitating the training of, teachers and assisting in the planning, development, execution, and evaluation of service-learning in their classrooms; (iv) assisting local partnerships in the planning, development, and execution of service-learning projects, including summer of service programs; (v) assisting schools and local educational agencies in developing school policies and practices that support the integration of service-learning into the curriculum; and (vi) carrying out such other duties as the local partnership or entity, respectively, may determine to be appropriate.
- “Service sponsor” means an organization, or other entity, that has been selected to provide a placement for a participant in a service-learning program.
The National Association of Scholars, in consultation with other supporters and friends of the Civics Alliance, drafted these model bills to translate into legislative language the principles in the Civics Alliance’s Civics Curriculum Statement & Open Letter. Just as these bills have been drafted with the expectation that different states will modify them as they see fit, they also have been drafted with the expectation that not every supporter of the Civics Alliance will endorse these bills or every part of them. Individual Civics Alliance signatories and supporters should not be assumed to have endorsed these bills, unless they say so explicitly.