Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

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13) …We applaud the efforts of organizations such as the National Civic League, the Center for Democracy and Citizenship, the Civic Practices Network, the Center for Living Democracy, the Pew Partnership for Civic Change, and [Heritage Foundation’s] Policy Review: The Journal of American Citizenship to identify promising community-based empowerment efforts, to make this information available to communities searching for usable models, and to weave together local activities into a wider community-based movement for civic renewal. Schools. First, we add our voices to others—such as the Communitarian Network, the Character Counts! Coalition, the Character Education Partnership, and the Center for Civic Education—in support of a far greater emphasis on civic and character education. We believe that our schools should foster the knowledge, skills, and virtues our young people need to become good democratic citizens…. While the National Commission has not reached agreement on mandatory community service for high school students, we are impressed with the ways in which well-designed community work carefully linked to classroom reflection can enhance the civic education of students…. Every state should require all students to demonstrate mastery of basic civic in formation and concepts as a condition of high school graduation. [Citizenship, OBE-style] In addition to their role in forming civic competence and character, we believe that the overall performance of our schools has important effects on our civic condition. To cite but one example: students consigned to failing schools are far less likely to achieve full partici pation in civic life. Free citizens must be educated. For this reason, we offer some proposals to improve teaching and learning…. …Despite the political and substantive difficulties, the federal government should spur the development of a voluntary national testing system with high standards and make it available for adoption (or adaptation) by states and localities. (p. 15) The federal government, states, and localities should cooperate to increase parental choice through such measures as open enrollment and public school choice within districts (and even beyond). Within five years, every state should enact meaningful charter school legislation, and the federal government should dramatically increase its support for charter schools. (pp. 14–16) Note: While the National Commission has focused its report and recommendations on areas of substantial agreement, we note an important area of ongoing disagreement among us. Some members of the National Commission advocate public support for parental choice broadened to include private and religious schools, especially for low-income stu dents now trapped in failing systems. These members believe that wider choice will enhance educational opportunity and accountability, improve quality, help get parents more involved in their children’s schooling and catalyze civic engagement. They consider school choice to be a crucial and necessary step toward civic renewal and self-government. Other Commission members believe that public schools have been, and continue to be, vital meeting grounds in which future citizens learn to respect and work with one another across their differences. These members fear that choice widened beyond the bounds of public schools could diminish support for public education, further fragment our society, and weaken our democracy. We were not able to resolve these differences. (Not surprisingly, our nation’s rep resentatives have not yet reached common ground, either.) But we do agree on the civic standards and principles that should be employed in public deliberation on school choice, and we call for continued civil dialogue on this question.