I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1387 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to increase 

civics education programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2023 

Mr. CLEAVER (for himself, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BUSH, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. IVEY, Ms. 

KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. 

LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MENG, Ms. 

MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROSS, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. 

WILSON of Florida, and Ms. CASTOR of Florida) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to increase civics education programs, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civics Learning Act 

5 of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The dearth of civics lessons available to stu4 dents across the United States has helped to foster 

5 a political climate that is deeply partisan and di6 vided. 

7 (2) Polarization in the United States has frac8 tured public morale in our democratic institutions 

9 and has created an environment in which people are 

10 less likely to be well-informed on the processes of 

11 our constitutional republic, the current state of af12 fairs, and the importance of participating in the po13 litical process. 

14 (3) It is impossible to tell the true, full history 

15 of this Nation and recognize the power of our rep16 resentative democracy without discussing the painful 

17 and powerful history of the civil rights movement. It 

18 is incumbent on Congress to ensure the full history 

19 of our great Nation is being taught to the next gen20 eration of leaders. 

21 (4) According to the Annenberg Constitution 

22 Day Civics Survey conducted by the Annenberg Pub23 lic Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, 

24 in 2022— 

25 (A) only 47 percent of people in the United 

26 States surveyed were capable of naming all 3 


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1 branches of government, while 25 percent of 

2 Americans were not able to name any of the 

3 branches of government; 

4 (B) less than half of Americans (46 per5 cent) correctly stated that the Supreme Court 

6 has the final responsibility for determining the 

7 constitutionality of laws if the President and 

8 Supreme Court disagree; and 

9 (C) 26 percent could not name any of the 

10 rights guaranteed under the First Amendment. 

11 (5) In 2018, only 24 percent of eighth graders 

12 were found to have performed at or above the pro13 ficient level on the National Assessment of Edu14 cational Progress civics exam conducted by the Na15 tional Center of Education Studies. 

16 (6) A lack of knowledge regarding the struc17 tural basics of our constitutional republic and the 

18 history of our struggle for suffrage and civil rights 

19 creates an increasingly ill-equipped electorate which 

20 over time, can, and will continue to, contribute to a 

21 weakened democracy. 

22 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC23 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965. 

24 Section 2233 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu25 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6663) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘and prioritize innovative 

3 civics learning and teaching, including by en4 couraging’’ after ‘‘to encourage’’; and 

5 (B) by inserting ‘‘(including students and 

6 teachers at high-need schools (as defined in sec7 tion 2221))’’ before the period; 

8 (2) in subsection (b)— 

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘and appropriated under 

10 subsection (h) of this section’’ after 

11 ‘‘2231(b)(2)’’; and 

12 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert13 ing the following: 

14 ‘‘(2) may include— 

15 ‘‘(A) hands-on civic engagement activities 

16 for teachers and students; 

17 ‘‘(B) activities about the history and prin18 ciple of the Constitution of the United States, 

19 including the Bill of Rights, women’s suffrage, 

20 and the civil rights movement; 

21 ‘‘(C) before-school, during-school, after22 school, and extracurricular activities; 

23 ‘‘(D) activities that include service learning 

24 and community service projects that are linked 

25 to school curriculum; 


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1 ‘‘(E) activities that encourage and support 

2 student participation in school governance; and 

3 ‘‘(F) online and video game based learn4 ing.’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (c), by striking paragraph (3) 

6 and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) DIVERSITY OF PROJECTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) DIVERSITY OF GRANTS.—In awarding 

9 grants under this section, the Secretary shall 

10 ensure that, to the extent practicable, grants 

11 are distributed among eligible entities that will 

12 serve geographically diverse areas, including 

13 urban, suburban, and rural areas, and public el14 ementary schools. 

15 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION OF GRANT FUNDING.— 

16 To the extent practicable based on the applica17 tions received under subsection (d), the Sec18 retary shall ensure that— 

19 ‘‘(i) not less than 30 percent of the 

20 grant funds under this section are awarded 

21 to eligible entities that serve elementary 

22 school students and teachers; 

23 ‘‘(ii) not less than 30 percent of the 

24 grant funds under this section are awarded 


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1 to eligible entities that serve middle school 

2 students and teachers; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) not more than 40 percent of the 

4 grant funds under this section are awarded 

5 to eligible entities that serve high school 

6 students and teachers.’’; 

7 (4) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘, and con8 taining such information,’’ after ‘‘manner’’; and 

9 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(f) GRANT AWARD PREFERENCE.—In awarding 

11 grants under this section, the Secretary shall give pref12 erence to applications for programs that carry out the ac13 tivities listed in subsection (b)(2) for the purpose of 

14 strengthening civics education and learning. 

15 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to 

17 the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 

18 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 

19 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 

20 containing— 

21 ‘‘(1) a description of each eligible entity award22 ed a grant under this section during the preceding 

23 fiscal year; 

24 ‘‘(2) a description of whether each such eligible 

25 entity was able to meet each of the purposes under 


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1 subsection (a), and if so, how such eligible entity 

2 was able to meet such purposes; and 

3 ‘‘(3) any recommendations for continuation of 

4 the grant program under this section. 

5 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In ad6 dition to the amounts reserved under section 2231(b)(2), 

7 there are authorized to be appropriated $70,000,000 to 

8 carry out this section for fiscal year 2024.’’. 

Æ 


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