Is there a hole in our educational system?

Are we failing to teach students about the nation’s history, it’s Constitution and civics? Are graduating students truly prepared as citizens, fully understanding how our federal democratic republic form of government operates?

The University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center annually conducts a survey of public knowledge of our nation’s Constitution. The 2023 results of the annual Constitution Day survey are out. The title of the survey: “Many Don’t know Key Facts about the U.S. Constitution.”

Here are some of the results. Two-thirds (66%) could name the three branches of government, 10% could name two, 7% could name one and 17% could not name any. Only one in twenty, 5%, could name all five freedoms protected by our First Amendment.

Dr. H. Arused Bennett, PhD. wrote a book back in 1935 titled, “The Constitution in School and College.” He pointed out that historically, instruction in the Constitution through the end of the 19th Century, tended to stress the symbolic function. From that time through the end of World War One in 1918, the Constitution was largely ignored in education. By the 1930s, the time of the book, not all states were teaching students about the Constitution. There were legislative attempts to force the teaching of the Constitution across the nation. The results were negligible, according to Bennett.

Here in Washington state, RCW 28A.230.094 addresses the requirements to graduate from high school. Of the 24 required credits to graduate from high school in Washington, only one-half credit is in civics. Civics is one of four elements in social studies, and social studies only covers three credits of the 24 credits required.

The American Bar Association (ABA) in May of 2024, published its Task Force Working Paper titled, “The State of Civics Education in the General Populace.” The paper’s opening sentence states, “It has long been recognized that having voters with a general knowledge and understanding of how our political system works, commonly referred to as civics, enhances and improves the functioning of our system.”

The ABA shares two pieces of federal legislation; both were bipartisan bills and attempts to improve civics knowledge. First was “The Civics Secures Democracy Act,” proposed in 2022. It would have authorized funding annually with grants to states and school districts to support civics and history education. It would have also provided more frequent administration of civics and U.S. history assessment of middle and high school students.

The second was “PREP in Civics and Government Act,” introduced in 2023. It would have added the study of civics and government to the scope of the National Endowment for the Humanities, providing an additional source of funding and resources for civics education.

The above bipartisan bills were read and passed on to appropriate congressional committees. At this point, it appears that both proposals are trapped in the Fog of Congress.

There are several organizations that measure and report on the state of civics education in the United States. The results are generally the same — we are not doing well. College graduates are leaving university with a four-year degree having a poor understanding of their role as a citizen in our form of government and how government operates.

On January 6, 2021, “a stake was driven through the heart of America’s Democracy,” according to retired Federal Judge J. Michael Luttig. We witnessed a violent attempt at the nation’s capital to stop a constitutional function — the certification of a national election. There have been other circumstances where the function of the nation’s Constitution was challenged. Each time the legislative and judicial branches took appropriate actions.

An unbiased, educated public, which possesses knowledge of how our federal democratic republic government functions, is critical for the future wellbeing of our nation. Teaching civics, the nation’s Constitution and the nation’s history, as well as our role as citizens, needs significant improvement.