Letter To The Editor: Bringing Civic Education To Hillsborough Schools

A letter to the Editor submitted by Brandon Tubby:

Hillsborough Township Public School District is one of the finest public school districts in the state. Residents of Hillsborough know it too, and it is a reason why many people with children made the move to come here.

Although HTPS students have always been found to academically perform above average on state exams, there is a major weak spot in the district; it is lacking the teaching of civic education.

Civic education is the teaching that prepares and informs one on how to be an active, involved, and responsible citizen in one’s community. This can be achieved through community service, volunteer work, community activism, or voting.

Over the past few decades, civic education has faded away from the educational scene as the prominence of standardized testing grew.

Since civics is better evaluated through one’s actions and performances in their community and not a sit-down test, states have had a difficult time creating statewide requirements on the subject. Now, only eight states require the learning of civics as a graduation requirement. New Jersey is not one of these states.

The importance of civic education is immense, and secondary school is the perfect time to teach it. Every year, a new class of voters and young adults graduate from secondary school and move on to college without any substantial information on how to be a contributing member of society.

This is a problem that needs to be corrected if we want to preserve the democratic values that this country was established on for years to come.

In Hillsborough, I strongly believe that all our students should be educated on civics before they graduate from our school district. I am currently working on a proposal to make it a HTPS District requirement that every student must take a civic education class prior to graduation.

If you feel passionate about this subject, please feel free to share your opinion with me by contacting me (btubby@htps.us), and consider talking about it at a Board of Education meeting in the future.