Civics education has long been neglected in Oklahoma schools to the detriment of our society

Ever since I was a child, Oklahoma schools have struggled in terms of teaching history and civics.

Even when I was too young to understand what Joseph McCarthy’s “Red Scare” was, I could sense that educators remained intimidated by what I learned was rightwing propaganda. And when I became a teacher at John Marshall High School in the early 1990s, school systems were pressured to use Texas-approved textbooks that were designed to comply with the teach-to-the-test mindset fostered by the Reagan administration’s “A Nation at Risk” campaign.

After the House Bill 1017, known as the Education Reform Act of 1990, however, our teachers saw incremental improvements in teaching and learning – even in government classes. But, the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and the Obama administration’s Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 especially undercut civics instruction.

As districts were forced to focus on math and reading test scores, social studies was largely ignored.

Although I was actively involved in resisting data-driven, competition-driven reforms, I must admit that I was too diplomatic when defending civics. I silently worried that our abandonment of social studies could be the most destructive result of corporate school reforms. But I was reluctant to criticize colleagues who gave up on the fight, and I didn’t say aloud that our failure to teach government and history could help undermine American democracy.

Today, however, our democracy is clearly in danger. At a time, for instance, when a president claims that he can seek a third term and seems to think he can ignore federal courts, a solid understanding of the Constitution is necessary.

Moreover, today’s students are anxious and feel disengaged and powerless in a world challenged by rapid changes in the climate, demography and technology.

Fortunately, Lindsey Cormack’s “How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It’s Up to You to Do It)” gives me hope. She offers practical – and bipartisan – approaches for discussing political issues and governmental processes that are very similar to what worked in John Marshall classrooms.

And guess what? Cormack doesn’t dump the entire challenge on schools and educators.  Cormack builds on the traditions of parents taking on the role of discussing government and politics at the dinner table and encouraging their children to get involved in community and local government activities.

The book reminds me about the ways my high school students, their communities and I taught each other how to actively participate in our democracy. Our academics shifted focus during presidential or mid-term elections, or when state or local politics dominated the headlines, or even when extreme events, like the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, or wars in Iraq and Afghanistan occurred.

When English classes started reading Ralph Ellison’s “The Invisible Man,” I would teach about his experiences growing up in Oklahoma City. The students were especially insightful when guest lecturers visited, and during field trips to places like art museums, the “Deep Deuce,” where Ellison grew up, and the state Capitol. This was especially true when a veteran of the Sit-In movement joined us in repeated trips to the Capitol. Legislators were always enthralled by the students’ wisdom.

Above all, student saw high-level instruction as a sign of respect, and responded by learning in a holistic and meaningful way.

But in recent years, I’ve seen a shift in how we teach because of corporate school reformers teach-to-the-test mandates.

It was only a few years ago, I was so hopeful that schools, families and communities would come together so we could nurture a commitment to civics education and our 21st century democracy.

Now, I worry that our failures to teach civics and history have helped undermine our society’s commitment to political institutions.

I fear lawmakers will be unable to gather the courage to stand up to rightwing attacks on schools by state Superintendent Ryan Walters and his supporters that aim to mandate history standards such as “identifying discrepancies in the 2020 election,” the “halting of ballot-counting in select cities,” “the security risks of mail-in balloting” and “the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”

I’m also concerned that our leaders won’t have the gumption to push back against the Trump administration’s focus on defunding promising education and nonprofit programs.

Because it will take a village and diverse strategies to build on our communities’ strengths and to raise and educate our children.

Oklahoma Voice (oklahomavoice.com) is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. Oklahoma Voice provides nonpartisan reporting, and retains full editorial independence.