Civics Education Can Help Spread the Legislative Bug

Civics Education Can Help Spread the Legislative Bug

Engaging students in the democratic process through page programs, internships and classroom trainings.

State Legislatures NewsPolicyEducationLegislative Summit

Discussing legislative civics programs at the Summit were, from left, Melvette Hill of Connecticut, Myra Hernandez of Washington state and Shawn Healy of iCivics. The session was moderated by NCSL's Megan McClure.

Myra Hernandez came to the U.S. as a young child when her parents fled the civil war in El Salvador. They were undocumented and didn't feel comfortable being active in civic life in Wenatchee, Wash., where they settled. Still, Hernandez was curious about her new community, her new country, especially when she observed what she could tell would be an interesting presidential race in 2008.

She followed her curiosity and, after a college internship at the Washington Statehouse, she is now the civic education director in the state Senate.

"I love civics and I love being able to open opportunities for other students," Hernandez told a session on legislative civics programs at NCSL's 2024 Legislative Summit in Louisville, Ky.

Washington's program includes a weeklong page program for 14- to 16-year-olds in which the students learn about the legislative process and civility and reflect on what makes a good citizen. Hernandez says many of those students catch the bug and apply for the legislative internship program when they are in college.

As part of the internship, which runs the full legislative session, the students work on a bill being taken up by the legislature; they do their own research, build coalitions and have a session in chambers to debate it.

"We can teach our students all we can about civics, but the best part for them is actually getting to experience it," Hernandez says. "They get to take bills from the session that have been introduced and do their own analysis. They go through and study public hearings and testimonies and draft up their own amendments and hold their own committees. And it's really fun seeing them take on the role of different advocates and also members and really grill each other on the floor."

Hernandez notes the state pays the pages $65 a day for the week they spend at the Capitol and offers scholarships to cover housing. Legislative interns are paid $2,400 a month and may be reimbursed for the cost of relocating to the capital, Olympia. They want to program to be accessible to all students and usually have about 140 applicants for 47 positions.

Washington also runs teacher trainings and other programs to connect with classrooms.

Steeped in Civic Life

Melvette Hill is the executive director of the Connecticut General Assembly's Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity. Unlike Hernandez, she grew up steeped in civic life. Both her parents were activists, and she attended many rallies and protests with them.

"I believe that that was kind of like the seeds that were planted," Hill says. "Civics life begins with understanding that just one person can make a difference, that we all have the ability within ourselves to solve a problem. What's really important to me is that effective change-makers understand how government works, they understand how systems work, and they understand their role in community success."

Among other civics programs, the commission runs the "Kid Governor" program, where fifth graders from across the state mount a campaign for governor and the winner serves for the school year, complete with a cabinet and a slate of issues that fellow fifth graders have made the case for. Hill says the state now helps other states run similar programs.

The commission also offers a Parent Leadership Training Institute, an intensive program to connect parents to their communities. Hill, who took part in the program 20 years ago, says many graduates have gone on to serve on school or zoning boards, city councils and in the Statehouse.

Her group added a children's leadership component that works with kids as young as preschool-yes, she says, they care about civics, too. The state has obtained foundation funding to offer these programs in other states and two tribal nations in Minnesota, Hill says. The group is also conducting research with a program at New York University to track the long-term civic activity of people taking part in the program, whether they're working on neighborhood issues or running for office.

A Focus on State and Local Government

Shawn Healy is the senior director of policy and advocacy for iCivics, a national group that promotes civic education with curriculum and interactive games for teachers and students. Its programs served 9 million students in all 50 states in 2023. The group also offers resources to legislators and staff as they develop civics education programs.

As a longtime civics teacher himself and now adjunct professor in public policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Healy says he'd like to see civics education focus particularly on state and local government.

"I would argue civics education is excessively focused on national government, and therefore our graduates know very little about state and local government," he says. "As I like to tell my students, almost every law and policy that impacts you on a daily basis is state and local."

Kelley Griffin is the host and producer of NCSL's "Across the Aisle" podcast.