Civics Funding Holds Strong in a Tough Fiscal Environment
Civic Learning Week Successes Delivered by More of Us
Civic Learning Research Roadmap
In the News
Coalition Member Spotlight
Next Month: National Week of Conversation (April 15–21, 2024)
New Members
Civics Funding Holds Strong in a Tough Fiscal Environment
Late last week, Congress passed its remaining Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 spending bills, which include $23M for K–12 civic education. This encompasses $3M for American History and Civics Academies and $20M for American History and Civics National Activities. These funding levels are identical to FY23, a major victory for the civic education field given divided government in D.C. and downward pressure on overall spending. The FY23 and FY24 funding levels triple those from FY22 ($7.75M).
Last year’s grants are having a major, positive impact on the field of civic education:
Through FY23 funding, the federal Department of Education issued four American History and Civics Academies grants, up from one in FY21, and 25 American History and Civics National Activities grants, up from six in FY22.
Three-quarters of Academies grant recipients and nearly half of National Activities grants recipients are CivXNow members.
Last year’s National Activities grants are currently serving an estimated 4,000 teachers and 400,000 students. Eighty-four percent of these grants provide professional learning opportunities for teachers. Nearly half of the grants (48%) also involve curriculum development, and a third (32%) student programming.
We are grateful for the 330+ members of the CivXNow Coalition contacting congressional offices and making the case for continued federal investments in high-quality K–12 civic education. This outreach made a major difference, as current civics funding investments were imperiled.
This process begins anew for FY25, where we seek $30M for K-12 civic education, a 30% increase from FY23-24. Long-term, the CivXNow Coalition will pursue reintroduction of the bipartisan, bicameral Civics Secures Democracy Act, which represents a generational investment in K–12 civic education.
While current federal funding levels for K–12 civics are reason to celebrate, they still represent less than fifty cents per K–12 student, as opposed to the $50+ per student investments in STEM subjects. Federal investments in K–12 civic education are critical to its prioritization across states and school districts. By respecting local control, they empower districts, schools, and teachers to provide students with universal access to high-quality civic learning opportunities throughout their K–12 trajectories.
Civic Learning Week Successes Delivered by More of Us
At the conclusion of Civic Learning Week 2024, we were reminded of Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker. In a memorable scene, a group of tired fighters facing a massive foe is heartened when backup arrives and are energized by a response, “There are more of us.”
Partners across our field showed up throughout Civic Learning Week—there were just more of us. You all showed up, and we want to thank you.
Over 200 organizational partners, large and small, joined in the Civic Learning Week effort this year;
Over 30 of our state coalitions spearheaded creative and influential activities in their respective states;
The terms “Civics” and “Civic Learning Week” were covered in 1,000+ local and national media outlets, a true testament to the field’s power; and
Nine states declared Civic Learning Week through legislative or gubernatorial proclamation.
If your organization engaged in activities not captured above, please share your stories, data, and photos here.
There are stories that numbers can’t tell. Activities centered and empowered youth, affirmed teachers, presented new research, registered voters, released new resources, introduced legislation, trained professionals, and brought new cross and nonpartisan leaders together to discuss the importance of civic learning to our constitutional democracy. More intangibly, participation created new friendships, partnerships, and additional ideas for new programs and funding streams.
What’s most inspiring is that none of this could have been accomplished by a single leader or organization—this was the victory for a collaborative field whose time has come. As a field, we are prone to go from one activity to the next. It’s worth pausing and taking a breath and feeling proud of what we’ve accomplished together, knowing that because of what we did during the week of March 11, our work will have more resonance and our teachers and students will be more supported. And, come Civic Learning Week 2025 (mark your calendars for the week of March 10, 2025), there will be even more of us.
Civics instruction, paired with meaningful assessments that ensure accountability, and
Classroom discussions of current issues where students are able to express their views in an open environment of mutual respect.
CIRCLE’s Kelly Siegel-Stechler explored inquiry through the lens of viewpoint pluralism to foster students’ civic development. This entails “centering instruction around a compelling question about which students draw their own conclusions using a variety of evidence.”
“...Through intentional and systematic instruction, students can develop cognitive, social, and emotional skills to critically and collaboratively engage with civic issues, and apply these skills in diverse community settings as part of their daily repertoire.”
Students emerge with a sense of efficacy and agency, believing they can make a difference through civic engagement and that institutions are responsive to them.
In the News
Civic Learning Week had a massive imprint in national and local news. “Civic Learning Week” and “Civics” appeared in thousands of stories nationally and locally before and during the week of March 1–15. This was driven by stories in the top tier of national media:
The livestream of the Justices’ conversation at the National Forum was carried by PBS Newshour, which has 54,000 views on YouTube, and on the Civic Learning Week livestream, which has 1,900 views. In addition, C-SPAN aired the conversation on Friday, March 15, and will archive it online. C-SPAN is in 50 million American homes.
Local and regional media told the story of civic education and Civic Learning Week to the grassroots, as dozens of publications ran stories about events and news timed to Civic Learning Week, and policymakers wrote op-eds supporting civics. Here is a small sample:
Coalition Member Spotlight: Council on Foreign Relations
One of the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap themes many of our coalition members promote is A People in the World. It highlights the importance of civic learning as a national imperative but also in the implications of that learning beyond our nation’s borders. Perhaps no coalition member embodies that value of global literacy better than CFR Education.
CFR Education leverages the knowledge of Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) experts to make complex global affairs and foreign policy issues accessible for middle school, high school, and higher education students and educators. Sign up for the CFR Education newsletter to receive thematically curated open educational resources from across the organization to your inbox every Sunday. In particular, given our recent Civic Learning Week celebration, you may want tocheck out the recording (using the passcode: Jv&f7am+) of the great event CFR Education held with the Digital Inquiry Group on teaching global literacy and digital literacy in 2024.
Next Month: National Week of Conversation (April 15–21, 2024)
National Week of Conversation was created for those seeking ways to turn down the heat of polarization and prepare and elevate the role of young people in engaging in viewpoint-diverse conversations that bridge divides. Activities across the country are designed to inspire participants and equip them to #DisagreeBetter.
We encourage you to learn more about the effort by going to conversation.us. Be sure to check out the many events hosted by CivXNow partners, including Bridging Heroes in the Prohuman Classroom being held virtually on April 18 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
New Members
CivXNow continues to grow, now officially standing at 331 member organizations! The latest additions are:
We remain deeply appreciative of member efforts and all that we accomplish 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 members, thank you for your partnership.
If your organization is interested in joining CivXNow or in learning more, please contact us atCivXNow@icivics.org.
Our Mission
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.
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.
A Team Effort
The CivXNow team produces this newsletter each month.
We are grateful for the energy, time, and guidance of the CivXNow Advisory Council and to many, many others who support individual projects.
