4 ms·

We could teach civics well if we chose to. Public education is purposefully undermined, likely because it has the word "public" in it.

kube-system 6y ago
I went to a well funded school in a highly educated district with a constituency that consistently voted for every bill to raise funding for public schools. We had a single required credit for civics. That’s barely enough time to brush the surface of the four levels of independent government we had. Opportunity cost was the driving factor. Much of the constituency voiced a desire for more courses in STEM or arts, not civics.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  > voted for every bill to raise funding for public schools. > We had a single required credit for civics They're not gonna change the latter so long as it keeps working so well.
  - kube-system 6y ago
    Most of the referendums I am referencing were bonds for narrowly defined capital projects... not frivolous raises for themselves, if that's what you're insinuating. It was a well run district.
- smolder 6y ago
  That makes sense. I can see the push for more/better STEM education, and the arts are always battling for funding as one of the first things cut on tight budgets. I would hazard a guess that the children that attended your well-funded school have managed to assimilate an above-average amount of practical civics knowledge, in spite of minimal coverage in school, perhaps thanks to their families and social network generally. Public education in affluent districts seems to act as more of a starting point than the whole thing. I think a lot of poorer people don't have the outside support to succeed to the same extent when there are gaps in their official curriculum. The demands on the districts they attend are greater, with a smaller tax base. Some folks see expansion of schools power and budgets as ideologically wrong, or just oppose the taxes. Others dispute the material taught. Either way, persistent outside pressures toward austerity (along with testing performance mandates and some other issues) have helped keep our baseline education from being adequate for everyone's needs, or from achieving a standard that compares very well internationally.
generj 6y ago
Just playing West Wing every time would likely be a massive improvement over the current civics classes. The focus is very much on largely irrelevant facts from the 18th and 19th century and not on modern civics. Students understanding don’t care as a result.

kube-system 6y ago

I went to a well funded school in a highly educated district with a constituency that consistently voted for every bill to raise funding for public schools. We had a single required credit for civics. That’s barely enough time to brush the surface of the four levels of independent government we had. Opportunity cost was the driving factor. Much of the constituency voiced a desire for more courses in STEM or arts, not civics.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
> voted for every bill to raise funding for public schools. > We had a single required credit for civics They're not gonna change the latter so long as it keeps working so well.
- kube-system 6y ago
  Most of the referendums I am referencing were bonds for narrowly defined capital projects... not frivolous raises for themselves, if that's what you're insinuating. It was a well run district.
smolder 6y ago
That makes sense. I can see the push for more/better STEM education, and the arts are always battling for funding as one of the first things cut on tight budgets. I would hazard a guess that the children that attended your well-funded school have managed to assimilate an above-average amount of practical civics knowledge, in spite of minimal coverage in school, perhaps thanks to their families and social network generally. Public education in affluent districts seems to act as more of a starting point than the whole thing. I think a lot of poorer people don't have the outside support to succeed to the same extent when there are gaps in their official curriculum. The demands on the districts they attend are greater, with a smaller tax base. Some folks see expansion of schools power and budgets as ideologically wrong, or just oppose the taxes. Others dispute the material taught. Either way, persistent outside pressures toward austerity (along with testing performance mandates and some other issues) have helped keep our baseline education from being adequate for everyone's needs, or from achieving a standard that compares very well internationally.

generj 6y ago

Just playing West Wing every time would likely be a massive improvement over the current civics classes. The focus is very much on largely irrelevant facts from the 18th and 19th century and not on modern civics. Students understanding don’t care as a result.