AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation released the paper “Our Underachieving Civics Curriculum” written by Dr. Thomas Lindsay, director of the Center for Higher Education at TPPF.
Key points from the paper include:
- According to U.S. Department of Education statistics, only one in three college students graduate having taken even one course in American government.
- The cultivation of free minds depends on the political freedom enshrined in the American Constitution.
- University regents and the State Board of Education should institute reforms that place more focus on teaching students basic American history, government, economics, and Western civilization.
“We should view the recent protests of athletes ‘taking the knee’ during the national anthem as a unique moment in our nation’s history,” said Lindsay. “Americans are more engaged than ever on the questions that drove our founders to declare independence but has the lack of civics education hurt the ability of these individuals to fully engage with the ideas and principles at work in the larger national debate?”
Read the paper here: https://www.texaspolicy.com/content/detail/our-underachieving-civics-curriculum
Read Dr. Lindsay’s commentary on his research here:
https://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/improved-civics-education-needed-democracy-survive/
For more information or to request an interview with Dr. Tom Lindsay, please contact Alicia Pierce at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas. The Texas Public Policy Foundation aims to advance a societal framework that effectively fosters human flourishing based upon cooperation and mutually beneficial exchange of ideas and speech.
Dr. Thomas Lindsay is the director of the Center for Higher Education at Texas Public Policy Foundation.
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