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119-s-5676119th CongressWALLET

Strengthening Civics Education Act

Sponsored By: Senator Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]

Introduced

Summary

**This bill would focus on *strengthening civics and history education* by funding better curricula, boosting teacher preparation, and producing reliable state-level student data.** It pairs school- and campus-level supports with federal coordination and a public clearinghouse of civics opportunities.

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  • Students and families: Schools and local educational agencies would be required to select and provide innovative, evidence-based civics and history curricula that are accessible to all students and to encourage participation in national civics assessments.
  • Teachers and colleges: The USA Civics Act would be retooled to broaden grant eligibility, allow partnerships with higher education and nonprofits, expand teacher-preparation initiatives, and support open educational resources, with grants made at least once every 3 years.
  • States and data users: The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) would be redesigned to deliver accurate, disaggregated, state-level civics and history results at least every 2 years. The Department of Education would also create an "America250 Civics Clearinghouse" website within 1 year listing federal scholarships and fellowships for civics-related opportunities.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

Federal civics scholarship website

If enacted, the Education Department would set up within 1 year a public "America250 Civics Clearinghouse" website. The site would list and describe federal civics-related scholarships and fellowships from Education, Labor, Interior, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other agencies. The clearinghouse would make funding opportunities easier to find but would not itself change eligibility rules or award amounts.

Expanded civics grants for colleges

If enacted, the bill would broaden higher-education civics and history grants to cover topics like American political thought, Western civilization, free speech, and the global impact of democracies. Grants could support creating and using open educational resources and teacher preparation, and would be competitive and made at least once every 3 years. The bill would also say the Education Secretary could not prescribe a specific American political thought/history curriculum.

New support for K–12 civics

If enacted, the bill would support local education agencies and K–12 schools in selecting and making available to all students innovative, engaging, evidence-based civics and history curricula. The purpose would be to help students understand U.S. government and take part in civic life. The provision itself does not specify household payments or exact funding for schools.

More frequent civics and history tests

If enacted, the bill would require national civics and history assessments at least once every 2 years for grades 4, 8, and 12. The assessments would use methods intended to give accurate, disaggregated, statistically significant State-level results for every State. This would give researchers and States more frequent data about student civics and history achievement. It would also likely raise state and local testing or reporting costs because assessments would occur more often.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]

DE • D

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]

    TX • R

    Sponsored 9/30/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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