Failing At Civics

In “Most Students Lack Civics Proficiency on NAEP” (Education Week, May 4, 2011), Erik W. Robelen says:

Many high school seniors may be old enough to vote, but just one-quarter of them demonstrate at least a “proficient” level of civics knowledge and skills, based on the latest results from a prominent national exam. … “Knowledge of our system of government is not handed down through the gene pool,” retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said in a statement. “The habits of citizenship must be learned. … But we have neglected civic education for the past several decades, and the results are predictably dismal,” said Justice O’Connor, who has been promoting civics instruction in the United States. © 2011 Editorial Projects in Education

The consequences of this will be (and are!) profound: the loss of the concept of freedom. Thank goodness for professors and private schools (e.g., the LePorte Schools, the VanDamme Academy, HistoryAtOurHouse) who still teach the American Revolution: those people and schools will be our saving grace.