Bending the Wrong Curve (National Radio Commentary, Salem/Townhall) June 12, 2020
Posted by daviddavenport in Op/Eds.trackback
Thanks to the coronavirus crisis, we have a new vocabulary, including “bending the curve” of the disease to protect the public health system from collapse.
But other curves should be bent upward and not down including America’s civic education.
Recent national test scores show once again that young people do not know American history or how their government works. Only 24% of 8th graders tested as “proficient” in government and proficiency in history dropped to a pitiful 15%. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos rightly called the test results “stark and inexcusable.”
But these scores have been low for years and little has been done. It’s time that we require students to study as much civics and history as they do math and science. It’s past time that we demand our students understand the country they will soon be running.
To listen to the audio:
David Davenport 