After Capitol Riot, Some States Turn to Civics Education
Matt Vasilogambros, Pew Charitable Trusts • June 22, 2021
After waiting two hours for her chance to speak, high school student Samantha Oliver spoke up at the Delaware House Education Committee’s hearing recently with a succinct message: Young people should be active participants in our democracy.
“It is a necessity that we, the next generation, learn how to use our voices for good, for change, effectively and earnestly,” said Oliver, a junior at the Sussex Academy of Arts, on the Zoom call. “We will be the ones to lead the charge of our country for the years to come.”
She was speaking in favor of a measure that would give sixth- through 12th-grade students one excused absence per year from school to participate in a civic activity such as attending a rally or visiting the state capitol. If the bill passes, Delaware will become the only state to offer this opportunity to students.
The deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January and the continuing misinformation about the presidential election have left many Americans deeply worried about the state of their democracy. Some legislators on both sides of the aisle say the extreme political divisions spring in part from a fundamental lack of understanding about the country’s history and how its government works.
It’s a fragile time in our democracy, said Shawn Healy, senior director of state policy and advocacy at iCivics, a Massachusetts-based education nonprofit that released a roadmap earlier this year outlining how states, local school districts, and educators can reinvigorate civics and history education around the country.
As the U.S. has disinvested in civics education, school boards have poured money into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) coursework. The U.S., in fact, spends a thousand times more per student on STEM education than on history and civics, according to the Center for Civic Literacy at Indiana University.
The lack of investment shows: A quarter of Americans cannot name a single branch of government, according to a 2020 national survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
Many young people are dissatisfied with the limited civics coursework they receive.
Nationwide, lawmakers are considering a variety of measures. In New Jersey, the state Senate passed a measure that would require civics coursework in middle school. Meanwhile, both houses of the Florida legislature passed a bill that would offer school districts a civics literacy project.
The YMCA has been involved in nonpartisan civics education since 1936. Over 55,000 students in 42 states and the District of Columbia participate in its model government program, Youth and Government. Many of those students have implored their states to pass legislation that bolsters civics education.
Some states are also moving to require students to pass the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service civics test required for naturalization. The 128 questions range from the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices to why the United States entered World War II. Around half of states have similar requirements.
Most Democrats oppose these measures, worried the test is not an effective tool for bolstering civic knowledge. Using the naturalization test as a benchmark for civics education is flawed and shortsighted, said Khalilah Harris, acting vice president of K-12 education at the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C.-based progressive think tank. The organization has released two reports in recent years that outline the gaps in U.S. civics education.
Students of different backgrounds and economic levels have uneven educational experiences, she said, and the test could disproportionately hurt low-income communities or communities of color by risking students’ graduation.
“Adding another required graduation assessment does not address the needs of the district to have adequate resources, funding, or exposure to things like a trip to the Liberty Bell,” Harris said.
Harris said other measures would more effectively involve students in civic life: States could allow 16-year-olds to vote in local municipal elections. School boards could give students full voting rights on issues that affect them. States also could implement automatic voter registration, which would add young people to voter rolls when they get their driver’s license.
Some conservatives worry investments in civics education will open the door to teaching critical race theory, an academic field that examines racism in systems.
Several Republican-controlled states, including Idaho, Iowa, and Tennessee, have enacted measures this session that would ban materials that discuss the racist roots of America’s founding, including the New York Times’ “1619 Project.”
On the federal level, a bipartisan bill would invest $1 billion a year for six years in civics and history education, with money given to states for education programs, to nonprofits for civics programs for underserved communities, and to higher education programs for training educators. It would be up to school districts and schools to craft the curricula.
Some Republicans argue that civics education could lead to un-American indoctrination. Healy, of iCivics, said this argument is a dangerous distraction, meant to stir up the culture war debate. And some legislators worry that teenagers aren't mature enough to benefit from more opportunities to engage with the government.
After the public comment concluded for the Delaware bill that would give students an excused absence for a civic-related activity, Republican state Rep. Richard Collins criticized the bill.
“Our kids, they go to school to learn,” he said, exasperated. “It really does bother me. They need to learn before they become activists, so they have informed opinions. I’m sorry, I just cannot support this bill.”
As he finished, the committee chair, Democratic state Rep. Kimberly Williams, cut in.
“Learning comes in all different ways,” she said. “It’s not just sitting behind a desk.”
Matt Vasilogambros writes about immigration and voting rights for Stateline. Before joining Pew, he was a writer and editor at The Atlantic, where he covered national politics and demographics. Previously, he was a staff correspondent at National Journal and has written for Outside. In 2017, he completed the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail. He is a graduate of Drake University.
The Pew Charitable Trusts is a global research and public policy change agent that remains nonpartisan and dedicated to serving the public. An independent non-profit organization, the Pew Trusts seeks to improve public policy, inform the public, and invigorate civic life.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.
