The Civics Alliance has reached new milestones in its project to improve K–12 education in the states
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CounterCurrent:
New Milestones for the Civics Alliance
The Civics Alliance has reached new milestones in its project to improve K–12 education in the states
CounterCurrent is the National Association of Scholars’ weekly newsletter, bringing you the biggest issues in academia and our responses to them.
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Category: Civics Alliance; Reading Time: ~2 minutes
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** Featured Articles -"Colorado Board of Education Considers an Amendment to Adopt Standards Based on American Birthright" ([link removed]) and "NAS Jointly Releases Three Model Bills to Reform Education Licensure" ([link removed])
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The first two months of the Fall 2022 semester have been jam-packed with major higher ed news. From the announcement of Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan ([link removed]) to the uncovering of even deeper foreign infiltration ([link removed]) of American labs to the proliferation of blatantly discriminatory hiring practices ([link removed]) on many campuses, higher ed reformers have had more than enough to keep them occupied. The National Association of Scholars (NAS) has been closely following all of these developments, and I have no doubt that there will only be more to come throughout the rest of the year.
But that’s not all that’s kept us busy lately. In addition to our work to reform higher education, NAS in recent years has expanded its focus to include crucial aspects of K–12 education. The worlds of K–12 and higher education are deeply intertwined: the ideologies born in the ivory tower soon make their way into children’s classrooms, often ushered in by education school graduates who are all too eager to impart their "wisdom" to their impressionable young students. After graduating high school, these students enter college fully primed to embrace the dogma of radical college administrators and professors without a second thought. We believe that to ignore the connection between K–12 and higher education is to abandon the prospect of improving either.
Much of NAS’s work in this arena is accomplished through the Civics Alliance ([link removed]) , a coalition of education reformers, policymakers, and citizens that NAS has convened to promote civics education in our public K–12 schools. The Civics Alliance’s biggest project to date has been the creation of American Birthright ([link removed]) , a set of model K–12 social studies standards that state education departments can use to ensure the students in their state learn about their birthright of liberty.
Last week, the Civics Alliance reached a major milestone in the American Birthright project when the Colorado State Board of Education formally considered ([link removed]) a motion to adopt civics standards based on American Birthright. Although the motion was one vote short of passing, the serious consideration of American Birthright by a state education board is a momentous occasion. As NAS wrote in a statement ([link removed]) on the topic, "Colorado’s board members have paved the way for American Birthright to be considered equally seriously in states around the nation—and to be adopted."
This accomplishment comes only four months after the release of American Birthright—but we haven’t been resting on our laurels since then. The very same day that the Colorado State Board of Education met to discuss American Birthright, NAS released a set of model education licensure reforms ([link removed]) designed to counteract the politicization of teacher training and licensure. Standards such as American Birthright will go a long way in improving the education in our public schools—but it is ultimately the teachers themselves who hold the power to shape the hearts and minds of America’s children. In the words of one of the eight cosponsors ([link removed]) to the reform package, the model education licensure reforms "make it possible for a new generation of liberty-minded teachers to enter the
classroom."
These reforms are only a small part of what the Civics Alliance has been working toward in the year and a half since its launch. We are greatly encouraged by the successes seen thus far—both in Colorado’s consideration of American Birthright and in the widespread support the model education licensure reform package received from other reform organizations.
Our K–12 schools are a vital battleground in the fight for higher education. To ignore the thirteen years of education that students receive before ever stepping foot on a college campus is to give up the fight before it has even begun. No matter what inanities America’s colleges and universities throw at us, we will not let K–12 education be forgotten.
Until next week.
Marina Ziemnick
Communications Associate
National Association of Scholars
P. S. The Leadership Institute’s Campus Reform launched its Higher Education Fellows ([link removed]) program in the summer of 2022 to elevate the voices of professors and college administrators concerned about academia’s leftward shift. Campus Reform provides fellows with compensation and a platform to speak out and share their concerns and suggestions about the future of American higher education. Current faculty and administrators from all disciplinary backgrounds are encouraged to apply for the fellowship by contacting ([link removed]) Editor in Chief Zachary Marschall.
Read More ([link removed])
For more on the Civics Alliance's project to improve K–12 education:
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August 09, 2022
** American Birthright: A Response to Critics ([link removed])
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David Randall
The defenders of the radical education establishment have begun to respond to "American Birthright," not least by presenting a distorted caricature of what the standards contain.
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March 01, 2022
** Announcing the New Civics Alliance Website ([link removed])
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Marina Ziemnick
Over the past few years, civics has taken center stage in the debate over American K–12 education. Our new website offers vital resources for those working to preserve civics education.
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February 22, 2022
** A New K–12 Civics Report Card ([link removed])
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Marina Ziemnick
Learning for Self-Government equips parents, teachers, and civics reformers to navigate the changing landscape of American civics education.
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August 09, 2021
** Strides in Civics Education Reform ([link removed])
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David Randall
It's time for a progress report on the movement to reform civics education. How have reform bills fared? How have reformers succeeded by means other than state laws?
** About the NAS
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