Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O鈥機onnor says that federal mandates are squeezing some subjects out of the curriculum, and she is working on a project that has a goal of restoring one of them: civics education.
鈥淥ne of the unintended consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act is that our schools have less time to focus on other subjects,鈥� Justice O鈥機onnor told several thousand attendees here at the annual convention of the .
Justice O鈥機onnor, who turned 78 in March, stepped down from the high court in January 2006 after more than 24 years of service. She told participants about the many projects she has been working on in 鈥渞etirement,鈥� such as pushing for higher pay for judges, advocating the elimination of elected state judiciaries, and helping former Soviet republics establish their judicial systems.
鈥淚 will make it my primary focus now to work on civics education in America,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have some work to do.鈥�
She cited surveys showing that fewer than one-third of American adults can name the three branches of the federal government, and she lamented that most know the judging panel on 鈥淎merican Idol,鈥� but fewer than one in 10 can name U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
鈥淚f we look at the adult population, whatever civics education people got in the past didn鈥檛 seem to stick,鈥� Justice O鈥機onnor said.
In her March 29 speech, she told the NSBA members about the Our Courts project, a civics education initiative being developed by the Sandra Day O鈥機onnor college of law and the college of teacher education and leadership at Arizona State University in Tempe, along with the Sandra Day O鈥機onnor Project on the Judiciary at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington.
The Web site for the project, , says it is developing online, problem-based civics learning tools for the digital generation. Teachers, content specialists, and technology experts met for two major sessions last year to begin developing a database of lessons that will include text, video, audio, and flash animation, the site says.
The Web-based curriculum will be available free to students and teachers, and it should be ready by next fall, Justice O鈥機onnor said.
She said she is encouraged that the 2008 presidential campaign appears to be inspiring teenagers and young adults to become engaged in politics. But the schools still need to do more, she added.
鈥淚t is absolutely essential that we make sure civics is not squeezed out of our classrooms,鈥� Justice O鈥機onnor said. 鈥淭o me, it shocks my conscience that students would find civics dry or boring. It is about who we are as citizens.鈥�
