George,

I've been stewing about that Civics Test report, titled "Failing our Students, Failing America" by the National Civic Literacy Board, and I have to respond.

I teach Civics & Economics - okay - 8th grade level - but it is still Civics. The report makes it sound as though American youth are ignorant about how our country runs, but you have to take a look at the questions to see if they are ignorant, or if the National Civic Literacy Board might be biased and out of touch. My class is not my father's Civics class, nor, I think, should it be.

Some of these questions deal with ancient Greek and the roots of democracy. Important, maybe, but more in tune with a Western European classics education, which may or may not be what kids are studying. There are plenty who think that this is exactly what colleges should be teaching, but it is a big world out there - thank goodness all programs are not so limited.

There's a question about which battle brought the American Revolution to an end. Maybe it's important - but is this really Civics?

Other questions are confusing in light of the current rule in the White House. For example, to decide if "To declare war" is one of the powers of congress - it may be, but certainly no president has required that since World War II. And who can define "the principle of 'separation of powers'" or "Balance of Power" anymore? And "just-war theory"? Even if people were taught this in school, does any college senior believe that there could be a just war these days? Or how about question 53: National Defence is considered a public good because: A. a majority of citizens value it. B. a resident can benefit from it without directly paying for it. C. military contracts imcrease employment D. a majority of citizens support the military during war.

How about the part of Civics which is the Constitution and the controversies and the Bill of Rights and debates over what was meant by certain phrases or laws, or the effect of the Patriot Act, or our election process...where's all that stuff? Okay, you can't put that in 60 multiple choice questions, but don't think this little exercise in hundred year old civics questions represents understanding of these issues.

W & L did a little better than UVA, and both beat out George Mason. Was that because W & L kids are smarter, or are they mostly more conservative? Mason is the most diverse student population in the nation - is that a factor? Do they just have multiple perspectives? Is steeped in tradition and classics a plus these days, or a detractor in a global society?

I don't think we should be throwing our hands up and lamenting about "the kids these days" - maybe we should reserve the scorn for "the testers these days."

Margie Shepherd (Electronic mail, October 16, 2007)