New York, NY; March 1, 2022 – In March 2021, the National Association of Scholars convened the Civics Alliance, a national coalition of organizations and citizens dedicated to preserving and improving an American civics education that teaches students about the founding principles of the United States, the structure of our self-governing republic, and the functions of our government and key institutions. America’s children should learn to take pride in what they share as Americans: an exceptional heritage of freedom, a republic with liberty as a fundamental principle, and the accomplishments of a common national culture.
The Civics Alliance has been working steadily to provide resources for citizens, school board members, and policymakers who are dedicated to opposing Critical Race Theory (CRT) and action civics (vocational training in progressive activism) and to restoring excellent civics education to America’s K-12 schools. Now the Civics Alliance’s dedicated website makes these resources easily available for every American.
The Civics Alliance website includes:
- Pledges for school board candidates, state office candidates, and voters to commit themselves to restoring American civics education.
- Model K-12 Civics Code for state policymakers, including these model laws:
- Partisanship Out of Civics Act to bar Critical Race Theory and action civics.
- Academic Transparency Act to require public schools to publicize every category of document relating to schools’ policies and procedures.
- Financial Transparency Act to require school districts to post immediately on a public website a detailed financial statement that itemizes all expenditures.
- School Board Member Recall Act to establish straightforward procedures by which to recall school board members.
- Contractor Nondiscrimination Act to require contractors for school districts to prohibit the use of Critical Race Theory policies.
- Social Studies Curriculum Act to mandate K-12 instruction in Economics, State History, United States History, Civics, and Western Civilization.
- Schools Nondiscrimination Act to mandate that no one should be either included or excluded from school materials on account of their group identity.
- Legislative Review Act to require all K-12 academic standards to be submitted to the state legislature and the governor for review and possible veto.
- Model Higher Education Code for state policymakers, including these model laws:
- Syllabus Transparency Act to require public universities to post the syllabus of every undergraduate course on the university website before classes start.
- College Finances Act to require university budget transparency and give state policymakers a line-item veto on university budgets.
- Campus Freedoms Act to require public universities to guarantee freedoms of speech, assembly, religion, and association, and freedom from intimidation.
- Universities Nondiscrimination Act to prohibit universities from discriminating by group identity, or using discriminatory concepts in administrative trainings.
- School of Intellectual Freedom Act to create an autonomous School of Intellectual Freedom at the flagship state public university.
- American History Act to add an American History and Government general education requirement to public universities.
- Heritage Certificates Act to add Western Heritage and American Heritage to teacher licensure requirements.
- Policy Toolkits for the use of citizens who wish to inform fellow citizens and policymakers about the need for civics education reform, including these Local Policy resources:
- Civics Bill Tracker to track proposed and passed civics legislation at the federal level and in every state.
- Policy Briefs on the radical assault on civics education, including The 1619 Project, Critical Race Theory, The C3 Framework, State Standards, and Financial Literacy.
- Resources, including Curriculum Resources, Local Policy Resources, the nature of Action Civics, State Social Studies Standards, and State Statutes.
The Civics Alliance website will provide the latest information on the radical assault on civics education, model content for civics education, and news about the ways education reformers are working to restore an American civics education. The Civics Alliance and its website will be a clearinghouse for Americans who want to restore a civics education that teaches students about America’s exceptional heritage of freedom.
NAS is a network of scholars and citizens united by a commitment to academic freedom, disinterested scholarship, and excellence in American higher education. Membership in NAS is open to all who share a commitment to these broad principles. NAS publishes a journal and has state and regional affiliates. Visit NAS at www.nas.org.
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If you would like more information about NAS’s Civics Alliance, please contact David Randall at [email protected].
Image: Robert Linder, Public Domain
