When we discuss topics related to our government, we often ask ourselves, what would Sharon say? After exploring the state of civics education across the US, we decided to ask Sharon McMahon, America’s favorite government teacher, to help us understand why teaching K-12 students about how the US Government works has been sidelined, defunded and de-prioritized. Sharon confirmed and shared her insights on the reality that many students graduate without a proper understanding of how their government operates, often having only a single semester of civics education. We discuss the consequences of this knowledge gap, not just for individual citizens, but the ways this lack of education is a national security threat and a threat to our democracy.
Understanding how our government works is essential for all citizens who wish to create change locally and nationally. When our students don’t understand how our government functions or the importance of local elections, and what it takes to make meaningful change, we get a populace that opts out and screams that it’s all rigged.
We explore the need for a stronger and more thorough civics curriculum that is consistent across states and the challenges in getting there due to our decentralized education system. Did you know that education requirements are left to each to decide or that we have 50 separate state school boards including 14,000l local boards? Please don’t miss this conversation on an often overlooked topics, that could make a huge difference in all of our lives.
Quotes from Sharon Mcmahon
- “We have under-educated our citizens for existence in a very complex democracy.”
- “We need to understand the problem before we can make meaningful change.”
- “The civil rights movement didn’t just happen because a bunch of members of Congress were like, you know, what the right thing to do would be.”
Quotes from Polina Rubin
“How are we supposed to make America great again if we don’t understand how it works?”
Zoom In:
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06:49 Why aren’t people saying in government that maybe we should prioritize civics education
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08:10 The United States has an incredibly decentralized education system compared to other democracies
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13:27 Whether the federal government should be involved in curriculum decisions is hotly debated
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20:37 Elimination of Department of Justice or Department of Education could negatively impact students
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23:23 Thoughts on the costs of education in the US compared to other countries
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29:31 Every other developed nation takes far more steps to abate childhood poverty than we do
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31:51 If you have two parents, you’re more likely to not be in poverty
PLEASE HELP US OUT BY SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND!
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