Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the importance of civics education
Over many decades, civic lethargy has plagued the United States. The most recent study of the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported that students perform worse in civics and U.S. history than in any other subjects. To counteract this trend, former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor has become a staunch advocate of civic education. In 2009, she launched iCivics, a Web-based education project, to provide free interactive lesson plans and games for learning civics. The project is used in all 50 states and an estimated 55,000 classrooms. O’Connor recently spoke with WP Magazine about the state of civic education in America.
Q: Why civics, and why now?