Red, white and who? The decline of civics education and what conservatives are doing about it

“No taxation without representation” was the rallying cry of early Americans who knew what was happening in their government and wanted to have a say.

But few of their modern counterparts either know about or participate in the system of government those early Americans created.

A recent survey found 70% of modern-day Americans would fail a basic civic knowledge test, and less than two-thirds bother to vote in presidential elections.

Midterm elections barely get 40% voter turnout.

And only 22% of 8th graders are proficient in civics, according to the 2022 Nation’s Report Card. 

Where did it all go wrong? 

Tawny Kilpper, the middle school program director at Young America’s Foundation (YAF), has a simple explanation. 

She told The Lion civics education isn’t absent but the “viewpoint [is] being particularly skewed.”  

Kilpper cited the infusion of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Critical Race Theory (CRT), and other left-of-center efforts such as the The 1619 Project as major factors in the loss of robust civics education.  

“The students are hearing nothing but all the Founding Fathers owned slaves,” she told The Lion. 

If grown adults can be brainwashed into believing everything revolves around race, as Matt Walsh’s new documentary Am I Racist? shows, what’s to prevent the same thing happening to impressionable kids?  

No wonder then that K-12 students are learning more about what’s “wrong” with America than what’s right. 

But even when teachers resist leftist ideology, they aren’t always equipped with good curricula and resources. 

Mark Shubert runs an educational nonprofit, Amending America, which is focused on compiling primary source documents about American history.  

He told The Lion many teachers – and even scholars – haven’t had as rigorous an education as one might think. 

“The actual requirements of becoming a teacher don’t require that much academic rigor when it comes to particularly American history or civics,” Shubert explained. “I’ve met hundreds of PhD professors – some of them are volunteers, some of them are on our advisory board – who focused on American history, and they didn’t even know about most of this history that we’re publishing on our site.” 

It can be even harder for K-12 teachers when the public education system doesn’t provide much help. 

“I think that the disconnect comes from teachers not being given all the necessary resources that they need,” Shubert added. “They’re not being trained as much.”  

‘I want students to fall in love with America’  

Fortunately, all is not lost for civics and history education.  

Amending America, YAF and other likeminded groups are working hard to instill a knowledge and love of America back into schools and, more importantly, the next generation.  

YAF was originally founded to bring conservative speakers to college campuses but has since expanded into high school and now middle school programs.  

“With the lack of positively inclined civics education happening younger and younger, we found the need to reach into the middle school space,” Kilpper told The Lion.  

Their expeditions are part conference, part field trip to satisfy younger students’ natural energy and curiosity.  

“[Middle schoolers] are at this great juncture where they’re open to new ideas, they’re hopeful, they’re energetic, and so they really are capable of receiving a lot of content,” Kilpper explained. 

Depending on their location, students tour sites where American history comes to life – such as the Reagan Ranch in California or George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon.  

But conservatives don’t have to rely on extracurricular field trips for a healthy dose of civics.  

PragerU, whose purpose is to promote American values, produces educational videos for kids about history, religion, literature and even financial literacy.  

Some of its videos are only five minutes, ranging from topics such as the Torah and Creation of Adam and Eve to “Why Did America Fight the Vietnam War?”  

PragerU has grown so popular that eight states have approved its content for use in public school classrooms.  

And it’s not just about the kids either.  

Groups such as the Bill of Rights Institute and iCivics provide resources to teachers and students alike regardless of grade level.  

Amending America is even creating a curriculum based on its compendium of primary sources, hoping to bridge the gap between scholarly research and everyday classrooms. 

“There’s a major disconnect between the two: what scholars are doing in academia versus what’s actually being taught in schools,” Shubert told The Lion. “We want to bridge that gap as much as possible so that people can actually benefit from the scholarly work. 

“We do have a lot of societal problems, and we can’t expect this generation or the next generation or the one after that to actually fix it if they’re not taught [civics and history],” he concluded. “How can you fix something you don’t understand?” 

While students aren’t going to become American history experts overnight, they can catch the bug of American patriotism.  

“We often say that the American dream isn’t a static concept, it’s something that you have to keep working [at] and apprehending,” Kilpper told The Lion. “We want them to have critical thinking skills, to be able to listen, and hear what they’re being taught and apply it to their life.”  

Most importantly, she hopes students learn how to “talk to people around you who maybe are only hearing one side of the equation.” 

“I just want students to fall in love with America, what our country is and what it represents.”