Policy: Executive Summary
The Civics Alliance promotes policy information at the federal, state, and local level.
Federal Policy
The Civics Alliance’s federal priority is to inform citizens of the danger posed by the federal government imposing radical action civics on the states or bribing them into compliance.
Proposed Federal Legislation
The Civics Secures Democracy Act would open the floodgates of federal support for action civics—and may receive support from policymakers who do not realize how radical the bill is.
The Civics Learning Act of 2021, even more radical than The Civics Secures Democracy Act, authorizes federal support for and gives grant preference to action civics.
Proposed U.S. Education Department Rule
The U.S. Education Department’s “Proposed Priorities” ensures that the Civics Secures Democracy Act would only fund programs that forward radical identity politics.
U.S. Civics Test
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requires candidates for naturalization to pass a Civics Test and 22 states have linked their K-12 civics curriculum to the Civics Test. Civics reformers should inform federal policymakers about the need to preserve the Civics Test’s rigor.
Strategic Goal: Defund Service-Learning
The federal government has authorized expenditures for service-learning for thirty years. Defending civics education ultimately requires defunding service-learning.
State Policy
State governments should play a far stronger role than the federal government in setting civics curricula. Even here, however, civics reformers should be cautious. Civics legislation should be carefully scrutinized, to make sure it does not provide unintentional support for action civics.
Proposed State Legislation
The Partisanship Out of Civics Act (POCA) prevents social studies teachers from giving credit to service-learning or public policy advocacy. It also bars Critical Race Theory.
The Classroom Teaching Act (CTA) eliminates service-learning pedagogy from public K-12 schools—and from any tax-supported activity.
The Civics Literacy Act (CLA) requires high school students, as a condition of graduation, to pass the U.S. Civics Test given to immigrants who wish to be naturalized.
The Civics Course Act (CCA) establishes a K-12 civics course, crafted so as to teach traditional civics and to avoid capture by action civics.
The American History Act (AHA) adds an American History and Government general education requirement to public universities.
Strategic Goals
Reform State Social Studies and Civics Standards
State legislators should establish procedures by which to reform statewide K-12 social studies and civics standards and ensure that they provide a framework of proper civics instruction.
Keep Action Civics Out of Advanced Placement Classes
States should ensure that no high school class may teach an Advanced Placement class that requires action civics; that no state money may fund taking advanced placement tests that require action civics; and that no public university may give credit to courses that include action civics.
Use Dual-Course Credit and Core Transfer Curricula to Forward Civics Reform
State legislators should make sure that every American History and Government course added to the public university General Education Requirements are also available as dual credit courses and integrated into the Core Transfer Curricula.
Require Civics Literacy Tests for College Students
States should require incoming students at public universities to pass a civics literacy test. Each state should also require students to pass a more rigorous civics literacy test before graduation.
Reform General Education Requirements
States should limit total General Education Requirements to 40 credit hours and include American History and Government among the General Education Requirements.
Establish a School of Intellectual Freedom
States should require their flagship public universities to establish stand-alone Schools of Intellectual Freedom, dedicated to the Western Heritage and the American Heritage.
Reform Teaching Licensure
States should require teachers in state public schools who teach English or Social Studies to pass six (6) survey courses in Western Heritage, American History, and American Government.
Local Policy
Local Education Authorities
Civics education reformers should ensure that local education authorities exercise proper oversight on the content of civics education.
Textbook Adoption Committees
Civics education reformers should dedicate themselves to work on textbook adoption committees, especially those on American History and American Government.
Civics Curricula
Civics education reformers should exercise rigorous oversight on civics and history classes, to ensure they include no action civics or radical propaganda.
State Mandates
Civics education reformers should carefully examine the language of state mandates and ensure that each school district’s civics and history classes preserve the best possible education.