As we quickly approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026, it’s crucial to acknowledge the role that states have, and will continue to play, in uplifting civic learning and engagement within their communities. 

Each U.S. state, territory, and the District of Columbia has its own commission to commemorate the nation’s semiquincentennial. In partnership with Paul LaRue, President of the Ohio State Board of Education and Co-Chair for the America 250 Ohio K–12 Education Committee, the CivxNow team facilitates a monthly State Commission K–12 Working Group, with representation from 47 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Commission attendees share their own initiatives, hear from guest speakers, and learn from other state commissions how to adapt and uplift youth civic education and engagement in their own communities. 

Commissions are using this opportunity to regain momentum for civics, with just a few of the great efforts happening across the country highlighted below:

• The Journey Across Arkansas framework takes students on expeditions through state standard-aligned monthly themes, classroom resources, student showcase opportunities, and civic engagement and service pathways. Arkansas Celebrates America 250 will create professional learning opportunities to discuss how these resources can still be used beyond the nation’s 250th anniversary year.

• Alongside the nation’s 250th anniversary is Colorado’s 150th anniversary. This joint commemoration will feature “Becoming Colorado,” a five-part educational documentary for Colorado classrooms that meets state academic standards and allows students to connect through their state’s past.

• Through its Civics Moonshot programming, the Maryland 250 Commission committed to civic engagement by hosting several initiatives: the Mock Second Continental Congress/Constitutional Convention, Civics Book Club, Statewide Essay Contest, and Civic Challenge.

• The New York State 250th Commemoration Commission amplified Civic Learning Week throughout its local communities, receiving a Civic Learning Week 2026 proclamation in Erie County, NY.

• America 250-Ohio has encouraged grassroots school-based activities. The Wayne County Schools Career Center in northern Ohio and Garfield Middle School in southern Ohio each organized day-long programs for their school communities that included the planting of a Liberty Tree by the Future Farmers of America Chapter and a student reading of the Declaration of Independence.
  
  
• The Expressions of Freedom student competition, a partnership between the Virginia Department of Education and VA250, engages students through the study of civics, history, and democracy in an effort to promote the principles of engaged and informed citizens through their own ideas and perspectives.

For this State 250 K–12 Working Group, the nation’s 250th serves as a starting point rather than a finish line. In New Mexico, educational programming for America 250 doesn’t even begin until after July 4, 2026, with the beginning of the next school year. As we enter into Civic Season through the 250th anniversary date and into back to school season, consider how your own state and communities are contributing to this civic momentum. 

Teachers are our most authentic, effective advocates for stronger K–12 civic learning across the country. Whether in the classroom or in second careers as policymakers or in other places across the civics landscape, we celebrate educators who prioritize students’ civic development on the eve of Teacher Appreciation Month in May.

From 2021–2025, 33 states adopted at least 50 pro-civics policies, and this forward momentum continues this spring with 40 states considering 232 policies concerning K–12 civic education. We’ll provide a complete recap of the spring session in a subsequent newsletter, but this month we want to highlight the current and former teachers now championing civic learning as elected officials across states.

•  Indiana State Representative Tony Cook (R)—former social studies teacher, football coach, and principal—sponsored 2021 legislation to create a state civic education commission and require a standalone middle school civics course.
• Minnesota State Senator Steve Cwodzinski (D)—a high school civics and history teacher for three decades—championed 2023 legislation that established  a standalone high school civics course requirement in Minnesota and is the lead author of legislation to establish a civic seals program.
• Utah State Representative Douglas Welton (R)—a current history and world languages teacher and debate coach—advocated for a law to extend the state’s one-semester high school civics course to a full year starting with the 2026–2027 school year, allowing for a greater focus on state and local government, including study of the state constitution.
• Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) trained to be a social studies teacher and has been an ally of the field during his two terms as chief executive. In 2019, Gov. DeWine signed legislation that established a civic seals program in the state and, last year, he successfully requested appropriations for an elementary-level literacy curriculum that infuses social studies content.
• Hawaii State Representative Amy Perruso (D)—a social studies educator for nearly 20 years—serves as vice chair of the Commission to Promote and Advance Civic Education (PACE), and is the current sponsor of legislation to establish a civics trust fund, drawing upon public and private funding, to support civics programming in middle schools.
• Connecticut State Representative Kevin Brown (D) is still in the classroom teaching civics (18+ years) and on the field coaching youth sports. He carried legislation the past two sessions to establish a civic seals program. This spring, it passed as part of a broader education package, and was signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont last month.

Teachers need not pursue elected office to “do civics for civics.” Over the past couple of years, the CivxNow coalition’s Teachers Advancing Civic Learning (TACL) has empowered teachers to advocate for stronger state and federal civic education policies. Now more than 620 members strong and representing 49 states, TACL members participate in quarterly trainings, receive monthly activation opportunities and policy updates, and engage in targeted state and federal policy campaigns.

Teachers also joined an educator-focused Hill Day last year held in partnership with the National Council of the Social Studies (NCSS) at the start of their annual conference. More than 40 participants representing 24 states visited more than 50 congressional offices, meeting with House and Senate members and staff from both sides of the aisle. We are currently planning a second Hill Day, bringing together educators, partners, and coalition members to advocate for civics and history education, on July 15, 2026, to coincide with NCSS’ Summer Leadership Institute. 

Teaching civics during this time of deep political polarization is a heroic act, and we are grateful for our educator allies. We salute all educators during Teacher Appreciation Month and throughout the year, and we invite your participation in our coming collective impact activities on Capitol Hill and across states.

In the afterglow of our fourth annual national Civic Learning Week (CLW), we’re in awe and appreciative of the scope and span of the CivxNow coalition’s collective work to strengthen K–12 civic education. This year’s events, proclamations, op-eds and earned media, and other forms of advocacy shined the spotlight on civics as we count down the final weeks until the Semiquincentennial.

The CLW Nahttps://vision.icivics.org/civic-learning-week-2026-believe-in-bottom-up-civic-renewal/tional Forum has become the civic learning field’s seminal annual event, as evidenced by this year’s over-capacity two-day summit. It was particularly special to host the Forum in Philadelphia in this anniversary year and to have robust participation from our most important stakeholders—students and teachers. The iCivics policy team treasured the opportunity to see so many of you in three dimensions outside of our normal Zoom boxes.

After the Forum, we followed our Founders’ lead in crossing the Delaware River, where we attended CivicsNJ’s second annual convening. Civic learning and engagement is clearly unifying the Garden State. North, Central, and South Jersey were all well represented, and attendees were treated to an inspiring address by Lieutenant Governor Dale Caldwell, who has emerged as a clear civics champion.

My Civic Learning Week travels then took me to The Fund for American Studies’ (TFAS) Developing Courageous Citizens conference in Washington, D.C. Across these three convenings, I was struck by the shared values, not to mention common attendees and speakers. The quest to develop a sense of reflective patriotism across generations presents an opportunity for unity in these polarized times, embracing the lofty ideals of our founding.

Meanwhile, iCivics State Policy Lead Andrea Benites was covering the western United States, where the University of New Mexico hosted a convening on developing a civic diploma seals program in the coming year.

Appropriately, Connecticut became the 13th state to offer civic seals earlier this month as Governor Ned Lamont signed legislation. Similar legislation awaits Governor Kim Reynolds’ signature in Iowa. As of this writing, civic seals bills passed one legislative chamber in Idaho, Maryland, and New Hampshire, and out of committee in Minnesota.

Throughout the week, CivxNow members celebrated civic learning across the country—in K–12 classrooms, museums and historic sites, government buildings, colleges and universities, presidential libraries, online, and elsewhere. Partners across different sectors spread the word on the importance of student civic learning throughout their own networks, states, and local communities. Overall, CLW was celebrated by more than 200 organizational partners, with activities registered in all 50 states + DC, and 25 official state and local proclamations issued at last count.

We are living in split-screen times, where there’s simultaneously deep concern about our civic health and celebration of this long-standing experiment in self-governance. This profoundly civic moment presents generational opportunities to carry forth the momentum of CLW throughout this anniversary year and ensure investments in the civic inheritance of our posterity for the next 250 years and beyond.