Introduction

Almost every high school civics teacher has been reassigned or retired, with the focus on STEM and English/Language Arts occupying the majority of the curriculum. This leaves a limited number of spaces available for electives, sparking competition and causing subjects like civics to fall by the wayside. In many school districts, civics is no longer a mandatory subject, leading to a significant gap in student understanding of government structures and processes.

The Misinformation in High School Civics Education

One of the most significant pitfalls in high school civics education is the failure of many teachers to differentiate between the laws governing various levels of government—local, state, and federal. This oversight often results in a lack of understanding that local officials' actions can be superseded by state or federal laws, and vice versa.

The How a Bill Becomes Law Myth

Many civics teachers present their students with a simplified chart of the process by which a bill becomes law. While this is the ideal process, it often simplifies critical realities:

The Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House must want a bill to proceed, which requires the support of a majority of their caucus. Most bills are not even brought to the Senate floor for a vote unless they already have 60 supporters. Smaller majorities can block a bill indefinitely, and individual senators can veto a bill from consideration.

Introducing these harsh realities too early may disillusion students, which is why they are often omitted from curricula.

What We Miss in High School Civics

While I did learn how government is theoretically supposed to work through my two civics classes in 9th and 12th grade, and an additional course on 'Problems of Democracy,' these classes did not cover the gritty details of how government actually operates. Topics like corruption, political party antagonisms, and the daily frustrations of true citizens were only touched upon in college courses in political science.

My 35 years of experience in the Federal Government also failed to prepare me for dealing with a figure like Donald Trump. Political science textbooks will need updating once he is no longer in power.

Conclusion

The curriculum in many high schools leaves significant gaps in students' understanding of how government works and the realities of the political process. To bridge this gap, it is crucial to address these shortcomings and provide a more comprehensive and realistic understanding of civics in our educational systems.