Lauren Cristella, President & CEO, Committee of Seventy
September 8, 2025
Thank you, Chairman Bizzarro and members of the Committee, for this opportunity to discuss how we can work together to improve civic education and increase civic participation in Pennsylvania. My name is Lauren Cristella, President and CEO of the Committee of Seventy.
The Committee of Seventy is a nonpartisan civic leadership organization that advances representative, ethical, and effective government in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania through citizen engagement and public advocacy. For more than 120 years, we have promoted, supported, and facilitated government ethics and civic participation.
The timing of this conversation is especially important as we approach the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation, civic engagement remains historically low in many communities, and civic education has broad public support across the political spectrum.
My organization is based in Philadelphia, where we recently saw incredibly low levels of participation in our primary election. Some divisions reported voter turnout in the single digits. We know that your vote is your voice. But their absence from the polls is speaking volumes. This must serve as a call to action for all of us.
But we don’t need to rely on anecdotal evidence of low engagement. Research consistently shows concerning trends regarding civic participation and respect for the rule of law. A 2023 survey from the American Public Media Research Lab found that only 27% of Americans aged 18 to 25 strongly agreed that democracy is the best system of government.
A poll from international research firm More in Common shows that a concerning 47% of Gen Z agrees that “sometimes it’s okay for leaders to set aside democratic principles such as constitutional checks and balances to fix the economy.” That is significantly higher than in other generations.
We should also recognize that we are too often faced with a false dichotomy in presenting how we are teaching civics that distracts us from increasing support for civic education. It is not a question of focusing solely on factual knowledge or dispositions and actions. It's knowledge, skills and actions.
Americans of all ideologies and walks of life want young people to learn about political issues, how the government works, how they can get involved in their communities, and how they can vote. Research out of the University of Southern California’s Dornsife Center for Applied Research in Education shows that even in our polarized times, Civics Education garners bipartisan support. A national survey in 2024 demonstrates high overall support for civics education in schools across both parties:
- 64% of Republicans and 80% of Democrats think kids should learn about political issues and current events
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95% of Republicans and 94% of Democrats think kids should learn about how the US government works
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75% of Republicans and 84% of Democrats think students should learn how they can get involved in local government or politics (with a +6% increase in Republican support for this since 2021)
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88% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats support teaching the requirements for voting
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97% of both Republicans and Democrats believe being prepared for adult life and being good citizens are the most important educational outcomes for students
With this context, we see just how vital it is for students to not just learn more than just content knowledge. They also need to be taught what it means to be a citizen in a community, and to develop the skills to be engaged citizens. They need experience putting into practice their rights and responsibilities of citizenship. These three pillars (knowledge, skills, and actions) form the basis of a high-quality civics education that will allow students to engage in their democracy meaningfully upon graduation.
At the Committee of Seventy, we work to help teachers bring civic education to life through a variety of programs. Our mock election and student-candidate interview series give students practice understanding the candidates and offices on the ballot every election and prepare themselves to become voters when they are eligible. Our Democracy for Kids program invites students in elementary school to start thinking about how they can be engaged members of their community. Our Can We Talk? program gives students the tools to have productive civil dialogue with people from different backgrounds and beliefs. Our How Philly Works materials, which help Philadelphia residents understand the ins and outs of their city, have been adapted into a high school curriculum.
We are incredibly proud to sponsor PA Civics. PA Civics is a coalition of former elected officials and 25 non-partisan, non-profit organizations committed to supporting, promoting, and expanding civic education in Pennsylvania. PA Civics connects stakeholders who believe in the importance of civic education. It was formed after the passage of Act 35 of 2018 to support the state’s implementation of the law.
At PA Civics, we aim for Pennsylvania to have the highest level of civic proficiency in the nation, among both students and residents. We further this goal through partnerships and by creating resources for teachers and schools. We recognize that classroom time is limited, curriculum requirements are high, and teachers’ time is valuable. We want to help them engage their students in meaningful civic education to ensure they are involved in their communities after graduation.
Our work is focused around professional development for educators, providing out-of-the-box, ready-to-use classroom resources from our members, high-quality programs for teachers and the general public, and consultation on public policy for the General Assembly and PDE.
As you likely know, PA Civics is the convener of the Civic Education Working Group, which pursues bicameral, bipartisan solutions to the civics crisis. We work with input from legislators, PDE, education leaders, and community stakeholders across the Commonwealth. The Working Group helps identify improvements to state civics standards and requirements for instruction.
The adoption of Act 35 in 2018 was an incredibly important step in increasing civic education in our Commonwealth, but it falls short of what is needed for a comprehensive civic education. The review of three years of Act 35 assessment data highlights how little it tells us about the quality of civic education in Pennsylvania. We only know the number of students who took an exam, the number who passed, how many scored 100%, if the test was locally created or a copy of the USCIS Naturalization Test, the course affiliated with the assessment, and student grade level. This data does not even tell us what the tests are measuring, much less give us meaningful insights into the quality of civic education students receive. It’s no wonder why in 2021, Pennsylvania was one of 20 states rated “inadequate” based on their state standards for civics and U.S. history.
There are opportunities for the General Assembly to pass bipartisan improvements to Act 35 in a way that avoids the partisan fights that have infected other states’ discussions on this topic. Parents should be involved in the civic education of their students. Teachers should be trusted to talk about current events without framing them in a partisan lens. Districts should be provided with the resources to expand professional development opportunities for their educators.
For starters, Pennsylvania’s state social studies standards have not been updated since 2002. Before the country focuses its attention on Pennsylvania for the semiquincentennial celebrations next year, we should be able to say that the State Board of Education has commenced that revision process.
Another area where we feel there can be immediate consensus is around the adoption of seals of civic readiness. These incentive-based programs have already been implemented in other states and give both students and schools the opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency in learning about and teaching the knowledge, skills, and actions that define a student who is ready to be an engaged citizen.
Several states now offer civic seals that require students to show knowledge, skills, and real-world engagement through action-oriented projects. In New York, educators report that the Seal of Civic Readiness has boosted students’ confidence, critical thinking, and investment in civic life. As one teacher said of a capstone project, students were “not just worried about passing a test … they feel like they have actually accomplished something.”
These insights point to meaningful shifts in students’ civic attitudes and behaviors. Let’s act now to ensure every young Pennsylvanian leaves school ready to participate fully in our democracy. Our country’s 250th anniversary is the perfect moment to recommit to civic education. Together, we can equip every student with the knowledge, skills, and experiences to be active citizens and ensure our democracy thrives for the next 250 years.
