THIRD ANNUAL CIVIC LEARNING WEEK, MARCH 6 - 10, 2023

Happy New Year! 

Thank you for your support in 2022. This year, the Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition is excited to host the third annual Civic Learning Week, taking place March 6-10, 2023. 

• Workshop Proposals - The deadline to submit a proposal to host a workshop or other event is January 18, 2023. Please complete this event proposal form. 

• For updates on the events of the week and registration, complete this event registration form to get a notification when all events go live in early February.

About Civic Learning Week

Civic Learning Week is a series of workshops and other events designed to highlight the importance of civic education in sustaining and strengthening our democracy through presentations by young people, teachers, administrators and policymakers. 

This year, Civic Learning Week builds on our previous collaboration with Rhode Island and New York City to include national events as well as events in many other states. 

National Civic Learning Week - Website Launch 

To check out some of the national events, visit the new Civic Learning Week (CLW) website. MCLC will be posting events hosted here in Massachusetts on the national site in the next month, and participants from Massachusetts will be able to access events in other states once they are posted.

For more information, please contact Shafaat Ukishima at [email protected].

FEDERAL FUNDING TO SUPPORT CIVICS - A HUGE WIN!

The year-end omnibus appropriations bill passed by Congress just before the holidays includes a significant increase in funding for K–12 civic education, from the current $7.75M to $23M. This represents a substantial down payment on the historic civic mission of our K–12 schools, moving us closer to ensuring equitable access to high-quality civic learning opportunities for all students.

In addition to maintaining the $3M appropriation for American History and Civics Academies, Congress appropriated $20M for a competitive grant program, “Civics National Activities.” This is more than a four-fold increase from FY22’s appropriation of $4.75M. Eligible recipients for this program include institutions of higher education and nonprofits that use evidence-based practices “...to improv[e] teaching and learning about the history and principles of the Constitution of the United States."

This additional funding did not happen by accident. The CivXNow Coalition, made up of 260+ organizational members (including MCLC and many of our member organizations), led the charge for this federal investment in K–12 civic education. We salute teachers, students, parents, and nonprofit partners across states and congressional districts that helped make the case for the federal Civics Secures Democracy Act throughout the 117th Congress. Since CSD was first introduced in March 2021, hundreds of constituent meetings and contacts were conducted, building strong bipartisan support for a generational investment in K–12 civic education.

NOW HIRING

Paid Fellowship with Discovering Justice for Spring 2023

Discovering Justice is looking for a full-time paid Fellow to work with the MCLC membership to engage their constituents in public education and advocacy work around the state's FY24 budget process to increase Massachusetts’ investment in civic education programs. The Fellow will coordinate meetings with teachers, students, civic leaders and their legislators to educate them about the civic education being done in their districts and to encourage more resources and support for these programs. See the full description of the position here. Send your cover letter, resume, and two letters of recommendation to Malia Brooks by January 15th with your name and "Fellowship Application" in the subject line.

DESE NEWS AND EVENTS

New Secretary of Education

Governor Maura Healey has appointed Patrick Tutwiler, former Superintendent of Lynn Public Schools, as Secretary of Education. MCLC looks forward to working with Secretary Tutwiler and the new administration. 

Massachusetts Civics Challenge - Statewide Showcases of Civics Projects

This spring DESE and Generation Citizen are hosting two state-wide civics project showcases to celebrate the work of 8th-12th grade civics students across Massachusetts: 

• DESE’s Massachusetts Civics Project Showcase will be held on Friday, June 2nd at Clark University in Worcester, MA (Open to all districts that are not Generation Citizen partner districts).
• Generation Citizen’s Civics Day will be held on Monday, June 5th at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston, MA (Open to Generation Citizen partner districts only). 

Applications for districts, charter schools and educational collaboratives to participate in one of the State-wide Civics Project Showcases just closed on January 6. 

For additional information, please see the DESE Civics Project Showcase website.

Winter/Spring 2023 Civics Project Virtual Support Forums

Like the fall, our winter/spring 2023 forums will be co-facilitated by Civics Fellows, educators experienced in planning and implementing student-led civics projects, go deeper into specific project topics, and provide participants with various resources and project examples. The first virtual support forum of 2023, “Where do I begin?”: Strategies for Getting Started, will take place at 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 1st. If you would like to be notified via email when registration for this forum opens, please add your name to this form: Winter/Spring 2023 Virtual

ANNOUNCEMENTS, NEW RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES

We the People Statewide Competition

As for so many years, We the People will be holding their annual statewide competition. The full day event will take place at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate on Saturday, January 28, 2023. The competition is a simulated congressional hearing in which students “testify” before a panel of judges. Students demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of constitutional principles and have opportunities to evaluate, take, and defend positions on relevant historical and contemporary issues. For more information on this year’s competition and planning for participation for students in the future, contact the Mass Center for Civic Education.

Member Spotlight

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