We made civics education the law - now RI must fund it | Opinion

Adam Robitaille, of Newport, is a member of the Generation Citizen New England advisory board. 

In 2021, with bipartisan support, the General Assembly passed legislation mandating civics education proficiency as a requirement for all public high school graduates. As noted by Gov. Dan McKee in a news release when he signed the bill into law, “Strengthening civics education in our schools is crucial to creating a more engaged and informed citizenship and developing a strong generation of future leaders. This legislation will help ensure that our graduates have the knowledge they need to both understand and participate in all levels of government.”

Unfortunately, what this law lacks is funding for its important objective.

It’s well known that our schools struggle with many challenges, and adding such a high-minded curriculum objective without financial footing inevitably fosters conditions for uneven results, particularly in schools with the highest needs.

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The legislation’s passage, and Governor McKee’s words, came in a context of a mixed picture of youth civic engagement in Rhode Island. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, “While Rhode Island enjoys some favorable youth engagement and community condition indicators, there is room for improvement. Youth voter registration has been high but youth turnout less so. The state scores below the national averages on many metrics of participation, but above average on youth doing favors for neighbors and talking to people of different backgrounds.”

The evidence of how committed, resourced civics education can change this picture is clear. Generation Citizen, a nonprofit that partners with middle and high schools to implement a project-based civics curriculum that engages students in their own communities, currently works in 30 schools across six districts in Rhode Island, engaging more than 5,600 students. After participating in hands-on, project-based civic learning experiences, 80% of those students reported an increase in their civic knowledge, 83% said they had greater motivation to be engaged civically, and 86% saw an increase in their civic skills.

Said one student, “It gave me a sense of power, a power where I can make change in our local state and have a voice.”

Sustaining, and accelerating, this shift requires resources. Recognizing the consequences of the unfunded mandate, several lawmakers are sponsoring legislation (H7036 and S2321) to provide funding. It requires $1 million annually be dedicated to support civics education, including teacher professional development and the implementation of student-led civics projects.

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The governor's proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year is $13.67 billion. It includes severaleducation-related proposals that would cost tens of millions of dollars. As the General Assembly sorts out themerits of the proposals, and the availability of revenue to support them, shouldn’t an educationalrequirement already enacted with bipartisan support and with clear, urgently-needed impact for our studentsand communities receive the comparatively modest funding needed to deliver success?

Rhode Island leaders often assert that our educational outcomes should match, if not exceed, those ofour neighbor, Massachusetts. Concerning civics education, Massachusetts also has a requirement, andprovides funding as well. For a relatively modest amount, Rhode Island’s elected officials can align theirrhetoric with their stated objective.

Generation Citizen New England, a nonprofit organization that advocates for and develops action civicscurriculum, supports this bill. So should you. Please ask your elected representatives to provide themeans for successful public school civics education.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: After participating in civic learning experiences, 80% of students reported an increase in their in their civic knowledge.