As schools rush to produce workers competitive enough for today's global economy, are civics, service and character — which some call the foundations of public education — being left behind?
Utah's three branches of government are banding together to make sure they're not.
The Utah Coalition for Civic, Character and Service Learning is a network of groups and universities helping schools and colleges infuse basics of civics into public school lessons through events, information and training. The coalition was created by the 2003 Legislature.
There's also a Utah Commission on Civic and Character Education, created in 2005, that aims to provide leadership for the state's commitment to the cause.
Leaders from both, including Chief Justice Christine Durham, Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert and former State Rep. LaVar Christensen, gathered to herald Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s proclamation declaring Tuesday as Civic Service Education Day.
"It's not a program — it's a set of core principles and values that go on and on and on," Christensen said. "We want to cultivate citizens in the most noble sense of the word ... to contribute to the well-being of our state form generation to generation."
Civic learning isn't looking so good nationwide, the leaders lamented. Voter registration among young people has declined in the past 35 years, since the voting age was lowered to 18, Christensen said.
The Nation's Report Card on Civics last week revealed 66 percent of American high school seniors scored at or above "basic," meaning they have a basic understanding of the content. Just 14 percent of fourth-graders knew defendants have a right to a lawyer, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Slightly more than one-fourth of eighth-graders could explain the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence. And half of 12th-graders knew what happens when state and national laws conflict.
"Our students must understand our political and cultural traditions," Durham said.
Congress has taken note. Every state now has a coalition to strengthen civic education, according to the nonprofit Center for Civic Education. Utah also includes civics as part of its graduation requirements.
Utah's group now is working on a 2008 statewide conference, and teacher and student workshops. It also wants to continue its Dialogues on Democracy regarding current social issues and that includes legislators, judges, teachers and students. It also wants to create a Web site and newsletter, and raise the coalition's profile with school districts as a resource.
E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com