CAMBRIDGE, MA [March 25. 2024] – After a six month debate, the U.S. Congress passed a Fiscal Year 2024 budget that maintains current federal funding levels of $23 million for civics and history education.
The $1.2 trillion spending package, which passed the Senate 74–24 early Saturday morning includes $3 million for American History and Civics Academies and $20 million for American History and Civics National Activities. It was signed by President Joe Biden later that day.
Given Congress’ divides, this level funding is a victory for the civic education movement, and a reflection of the widespread agreement—across the political spectrum—on the importance of civic education.. The investment maintains the nearly tripling in budget achieved in Fiscal Year 2023, when Congress increased federal funding of civics and history from $7.75 million, or an average of almost 50 cents per student per year.
As a result of the increased funding last year, the U.S. Department of Education issued 4 American History and Civics Academies grants—up from 1 the previous year—and 25 American History and Civics National Activities grants—up from 6 in 2022.
The National Activities grants serve an estimated 4,000 teachers and 400,000 students, providing funding for professional learning opportunities for curriculum development and student programming.
“Federal investment in K–12 civic education is essential to making civics a priority in every state and school district. It empowers districts, schools, and teachers to provide students with universal access to high-quality civic learning opportunities throughout their K–12 trajectories,” iCivics Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy Shawn Healy said. “We are grateful for everyone who contacted congressional offices and made the case for continued federal investments in high-quality K–12 civic education. This outreach made a major difference.”
The CivxNow Coalition is a project of iCivics, with more than 330 member organizations from across the country and viewpoint spectrum leading the charge for deepened investment in civic education.
Looking forward to Fiscal Year 2025, CivxNow will seek $30 million in funding for K–12 civic education, a 30 percent increase from FY23–FY24. Long term, the CivxNow Coalition will pursue reintroduction of the bipartisan, bicameral Civics Secures Democracy Act, which would infuse civic education with $1 billion annually, representing a generational investment in K–12 civic education.
About iCivics
iCivics is the nation’s premier civic education nonprofit, working to ensure that the practice of constitutional democracy is learned by each new generation. iCivics works to support high-quality civic education in the classroom through instructional materials, professional development, and bipartisan policy work that makes high-quality civic education a nationwide priority. Founded in 2009 by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, iCivics is currently used by up to 145,000 educators and 9 million students annually. All of its resources are free, nonpartisan, and available online at icivics.org.
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