{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1802-113/featured_sandra-day-o-connor-civic-learning-act-of-2013-1485897500.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1802-113/featured_large_sandra-day-o-connor-civic-learning-act-of-2013-1485897500.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr1802-113.png"},"introduced_on":"2013-04-26","title_override":"Improving Civic Education In U.S. Schools","summary_override":"

How does a bill become law? How many branches of government are there? Who were the first five presidents?

These are the sorts of questions that U.S. students should be able to answer — at least, that's what this bill is hoping for. Through competition, this bill aims to fund civic learning in public school to ensure that students in the U.S. are informed and engaged citizens who actively participate in government.

The bill calls upon the National Assessment Governing Board to make available state-level data from school tests in civics, history, geography and economics (better known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test). The goal is that once states know how well their students are performing in those subjects they can either rest assured, or ramp up their efforts.

Competitive grants would be awarded through this act to nonprofit educational organizations to fund the creation of programs that promote civic learning. This civic engagement would be achieved through instruction and evaluations. Each program would have to be:

broadly scaleable, and cost-effective to implement into diverse learning environments;
innovative in design and delivery;
and held accountable by identifying best practices, and through periodic program assessments.

","official_title":"To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to promote civic learning and engagement, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Sandra Day O'Connor Civic Learning Act of 2013","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Sandra Day O'Connor Civic Learning Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress that the Commissioner for Education Statistics, in administering the National Assessment of Educational Progress, should increase the number of students tested to improve disaggregation and analysis of data regarding progress in history and civics.\n\nAmends part C (Innovation for Teacher Quality) of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to repeal We the People, a Civic Education program, and replace it with a program awarding competitive grants to nonprofit educational organizations to develop and implement programs that promote civic learning and engagement through instruction, professional development, and evaluations.\n\nRequires such programs to promote: (1) equity through access to funding and program benefits; (2) innovation through design, settings, and delivery; (3) scalability through broad, cost-effective implementation and institutionalization; and (4) accountability through...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable. ","impact":"U.S. students, educators tasked with teaching civic history and knowledge, public school administrations, the National Assessment Governing Board, and individual states. ","argument_for":"Effective civic learning has been on the decline in U.S. schools. Students need to know how government works so that they can participate and make sure their voices are heard and heeded by elected officials. ","argument_against":"The U.S. education system needs a whole lot more help than just a stronger focus on civic knowledge — government needs to fix the whole structure of U.S. before spending money on pet projects. 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Here you can find bills related to Elementary, Junior and High School, Universities, continuing and adult education and pre-K. \r\n","page_title":"Federal legislation related to Education, encompassing K-12, Collegiate, Pre-K, and continuing - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/education/black_education-1429042042.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/education/grey_education-1429042042.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/education/white_education-1429042042.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"voting-rights","name":"Voting Rights","slug":"voting-rights","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Voting Rights. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. ","page_title":"Voting Rights Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/voting-rights/black_voting-rights-1429042059.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/voting-rights/grey_voting-rights-1429042059.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/voting-rights/white_voting-rights-1429042059.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Anna","vote_count":67,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-2.png","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-2.png","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-2.png"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/4mKoKP3m/following","followers":"/api/users/4mKoKP3m/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":43,"is_following":null,"influence_score":0,"influence_level":0,"follower_count":0,"following_count":2,"position_count":33,"id":"4mKoKP3m","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"97752774-dd08-4ff7-ab86-97f3d97bb1c0","argument_for":"As a high school student, I can say that I have in no way been introduced to anything in our current government. Since school is supposed to prepare us for becoming adults, it is vital that we understand how our civics work BEFORE we leave school and become involved in them. ","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":0,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/97752774-dd08-4ff7-ab86-97f3d97bb1c0"},"body":"As a high school student, I can say that I have in no way been introduced to anything in our current government. Since school is supposed to prepare us for becoming adults, it is vital that we understand how our civics work BEFORE we leave school and become involved in them. ","stance":"yea","created_at":"2016-10-11T20:29:52.561Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/97752774-dd08-4ff7-ab86-97f3d97bb1c0.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr1802-113","user_id":"4mKoKP3m","endorser_ids":[]}}

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Improving Civic Education In U.S. Schools