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| May 2022 |
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| Civics Secures Democracy Act on Cusp of Reintroduction |
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| Bipartisan cosponsors initially introduced the federal Civics Secures Democracy (CSD) Act in both chambers of Congress in March 2021. Throughout the past 14 months have seen CivXNow Coalition members contacted congressional offices in support of the legislation through emails, phone calls, and constituent meetings. Last week’s Advocacy Week alone resulted in outreach to hundreds of member offices on behalf of the bill.
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| Simultaneously, we worked with the original cosponsors to address concerns about curriculum and impact on the federal deficit. As a rule of construction, the bill forbids a national curriculum, delegating decisions about what is taught and how it’s taught to states and school districts. Moreover, guardrails in the bill ensure that foundational civic knowledge is the central focus of CSD’s generational investment in civic education. Finally, fiscal offsets included in the revised bill make it 100% deficit-neutral. |
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| The cosponsors should be commended for reaching across partisan and ideological divides to strengthen this legislation critical to the long-term strength and sustainability of our constitutional democracy. With the major milestone of reintroduction in the U.S. Senate expected by Memorial Day, we must not rest on our laurels. The most important miles in this marathon lie ahead as the finish line appears faintly in the distance. We must use this opportunity to gain bipartisan cosponsors and commitments to support the bill once it’s considered in committee and/or the floor of both chambers.
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Thank you for all that you have done to date to propel CSD in a difficult political environment. Only seven months remain in the current Congress; let's resolve to use every remaining day to advocate fiercely for passage of the Civics Secures Democracy Act with a strong bipartisan vote in both the House and Senate. |
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| Yours in civics,
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| Shawn Healy |
| Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy, iCivics |
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| Inside this newsletter:
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| State Spotlights |
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| Georgia |
| The Georgia Center for Civic Engagement (GCCE) recently celebrated a huge legislative victory with Governor Kemp signing the Georgia Civic Renewal Act into law. The Act creates a bipartisan Commission on Civic Education composed of 17 members, including one from GCCE, and is set to meet two to four times annually to review the conditions, needs, issues, and problems related to civic education in Georgia schools. The Commission will issue an annual report to the General Assembly recommending any action or legislation, and will also receive an annual report from the head of the social studies program of the Georgia Department of Education. |
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| Massachusetts |
| The Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition (MCLC) has been working to secure and increase continued funding for civic education in the state’s annual budget. They mobilized more than 100 advocates and gained 56 cosponsors in the House on Rep. Linda Dean Campbell’s budget amendment for civic learning in Massachusetts K–12 schools. The House budget was passed with level funding of $1.5M for civics. The process now moves to the Senate where MCLC has recruited 11 cosponsors to Sen. Harriette Chandler’s budget amendment #662 to increase support for civic learning to $3M. |
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| Utah |
| With passage of House Bill 273 (“Local Innovations Civic Education Program” by Rep. Dan Johnson) in Utah comes an unprecedented opportunity to invest in innovative approaches to civic teaching and learning. The Utah Civic Learning Collaborative (UCLC) is nearing the conclusion of its six-month civic education listening tour across Utah, which served in part to help educators, schools, and school districts take advantage of the $1.5M set aside by HB 273 to test new ideas or take a promising approach to scale. |
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| Read highlights from the recent Davis County School District tour stop in collaboration with the Utah State Board of Education. |
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| May Weeks of Action |
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| More than 50 organizations engaged in the May 9–13 #Civics4CommUNITY Awareness Week and the May 16–20 #CivicsAdvocacyWeek. The engagement was as diverse as the coalition itself, including a KQED Youth Media Challenge, a National Constitution Center class on the 2nd Amendment, a webinar led by InquirEd and NCSS featuring Stanford History Education Group Founder Sam Wineburg, and mobilization by the Girl Scouts of the USA to advocate for the Civics Secures Democracy Act. And the work continues.
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| We encourage you to watch our brief video on how to leverage CivXNow’s tools to advocate for the civic mission of schools.
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| Meet the Newest CivXNow Coalition Members
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| The CivXNow Coalition continues to grow, now standing at more than 210 member organizations! The latest additions include:
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| The Coalition remains deeply appreciative of member efforts and of all we have accomplished together. Our goal is to aggregate and activate large networks of support to expand and re-imagine civic education as a force for civic strength. To our Coalition members, thank you for your partnership. |
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| If you are part of an organization interested in joining the Coalition or learning more, please contact us at CivXNow@icivics.org.
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| Our Mission
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| CivXNow is a coalition of partners from diverse viewpoints working to create a culture shift that elevates civic education and engagement as a national priority in order to protect and strengthen America’s constitutional democracy. This includes building a shared commitment to ensure that all young people are prepared to assume their rights and responsibilities to participate in civic life and address the issues facing students, their families, and communities in our increasingly dynamic, polarized, and digital society. |
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| To achieve this goal, CivXNow advocates for bipartisan federal and state legislation that supports implementation of state and local policies that reimagine and deliver relevant, inclusive, and engaging K-12 civic learning, both in- and out-of-school. |
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| A Team Effort |
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| Follow us and use #CivXNow to join the movement!
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| 1035 Cambridge Street, Suite 21B | Cambridge, MA 02141 |
| 617-356-8311 | www.iCivics.org |
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