The Civics Secures Democracy Act is dangerous legislation that enables the teaching of CRT and SEL (social-emotional learning) in every public school in America. Its passage would set back all the progress made by hard-working parents who ran for school board positions and won and minimize the effort of hundreds of parents humiliated at school board meetings for daring to speak out against CRT or SEL.

Let the IFA community know how to pray for you.

View Comments (10)

Here’s the history behind this terrible bill.

In 1916, public schools began a long descent into the abyss of the non-education of our students as American citizens with the introduction of social studies drawing content from the whole of human experience. The result of not teaching citizens to respect and protect our republic is currently visible. Many of our citizens have little knowledge of how the American government works and often do not appreciate the genius of our founding fathers. In 2018, an Annenberg Public Policy Center survey found that 68 percent of Americans could not name all three branches of government.

A more recent Pew Research poll revealed a strong distrust of the government, with only 16% of whites, 24% of Blacks, and 9% of Republicans who currently trust the government to do the right thing on policy issues and challenges.

To rectify the lack of civic knowledge, six senators (Chris Coons, D-Delaware, John Cornyn, R-Texas, Mark Kelley, D-Arizona, Jim Inhofe, R- Oklahoma, Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, and Angus King, I-Maine) reintroduced the Civics Secures Democracy Act for the second year. Unfortunately, the bill neither teaches civics nor does it secure our democracy but instead funds an open door for the promotion the liberal agenda of the Biden administration and its Department of Education.   

Knowing that the federal government cannot federally mandate curriculum in any of its 97,568 public schools, nor can it force any school to offer classes in civics or history. But there is a way around those “state” hurdles and thereby teach America’s students all the programs causing issues at school board meetings like Critical Race Theory, Sexual Identity, Social-Emotional Learning, and Globalization. That path is to offer grants to a state’s branch of the DOE, liberally compliant nonprofits, institutes of higher education, and research grants to liberal institutions. The bill clearly states, “To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support educational programs in civics and history, and for other purposes.”

The bill generates over $7 Billion in grant money. During a hearing for the previous submission of the bill, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona stated to Congressman Tom Cole that the Department of education could not mandate curriculum. He then admitted that the administration could issue specific priorities it wants grantees to include in applications for these programs.

The outlook for our students and our nation could not look more daunting as the Biden Department of Education (DOE), under Secretary Miguel Cardona, staffed with left-leaning bureaucrats, will process the grant applications and will look for grants that “close gaps in knowledge and achievement among students of different income levels, racial and ethnic groups, and native languages.” And will “improve knowledge and engagement for traditionally underserved students”- all educational jargon for CRT. The Action Civics will prioritize grants that give students advocacy projects like Black Lives Matter demonstrations and activism engagement.

The bills have listed a clandestine way the programs would pressure states to self-impose a federal mandate. Each bill includes a testing component administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). This national test assesses how states are doing in teaching basic knowledge and skills. This information becomes public knowledge and is available for scrutiny. Also, future grants to states could depend not just on how well their students did on the history and civics portions of the NAEP, but also on the state’s willingness to participate in the testing process and thereby be considered for future grants.

We must pray that this Civics Secures Democracy Act will not pass.

It is imperative that those concerned act as quickly as possible, as the Civics Securities Act may be brought before the Senate for a vote as early as August 2022, before Congress dismisses for summer break.

About the Author: Nancy Huff is an educator with a mission to equip believers to pray strategically for the Cultural Mountain of Education. She has authored Taking the Mountain of Education: A Strategic Prayer Guide to Transform America’s Schools. Safety Zone: Scriptural Prayers to Revolutionize Your School, and Decrees for Your School. She leads prayer groups to pray at key educational locations across the US. For additional information, go to: https://takingthemountainofeducation.com. Photo Credit: Getty Images.