Whatever Happened to Learning Civics?
By the Wayland, Weston and Sudbury Leagues of Women Voters

Last fall, a survey released by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania showed that just over a third—36%–of adults in a national survey could name all three branches of the U.S. government, and 35% could not name even one branch. Over half the respondents did not know which party controlled the House and the Senate in Congress. And 21% thought Congress got to reconsider 5-4 decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Average Americans seem to lack the most basic understanding of how their government operates on the national level. It is likely that knowledge is even thinner when it comes to state and local governments.
In January, Arizona became the first state to require that high school students pass a civics test to graduate. Students will have to correctly answer 60 of the 100 questions on the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization civics test. Other states are already considering the same thing.

Seven years ago, concern over civics education prompted the Wayland, Weston and Sudbury Leagues of Women Voters to start an annual Civics Bee competition with teams from each of the three towns vying for a trophy. The Leagues hoped to raise awareness of the importance of civics education for students and civics awareness for adults.

And we thought a little friendly competition would be a great way to do that.

As we get ready for our seventh annual Civics Bee, we have found our concern has turned into a celebration of the high level of civics education in the schools in our three towns.

The middle school and high school students who have participated over the years show an amazing mastery of the mechanics and the principles of our government. And the adult members of the teams serve as models to those students and reminders to their communities of the importance of knowing how government works.

The Wayland, Weston and Sudbury Leagues are also proud that our Civics Bee has inspired Leagues in other Massachusetts towns to sponsor their own Civics Bees.

We encourage Wayland, Weston and Sudbury citizens to join us for this seventh Civics Bee, on Sunday, March 15, at 2 p.m. at the Wayland High School.

Test your knowledge of civics against these talented students and committed adults. See how many of the questions you can answer.  (In the meantime, see the questions below)

And then become, with the League of Women Voters, an advocate for a strong civics education program in our schools and increased citizen participation in our government at all levels.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
AT THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS’ CIVICS BEE

Could you compete in the League of Women Voters’ Civics Bee?

See if you can answer the questions below drawn from previous bees, and then come and watch the teams from Sudbury, Wayland and Weston compete in the seventh annual Civics Bee Sunday, March 15.

The Bee is sponsored by the Leagues of Women Voters in the three towns and will be held at the Wayland High School, 264 Old Connecticut Path, in Wayland, starting at 2 p.m.  The Bee is free and open to the public.

Teams made up of middle school and high school students and adults from the towns will compete for the Civics Bee trophy.

The special theme section of this year’s Bee is Civil Rights, marking the 50^th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  The main focus of the Civics Bee remains to challenge the teams’ overall knowledge of federal, state and local government, with questions in all of those categories. 

This year’s Civics Bee is supported in part by a grant from the Wayland Cultural Council.

Can you answer these questions from past Civics Bees?

1. Where is the “reserved powers” clause found and what does it do?
2. Who was the first elected governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts?
3. True or false – Congress may pass a law to change the number of Supreme Court Justices.
4. For two years the nation was run by a president and a vice president who were not elected by the people. Name the president and vice president.
5. Name the grandfather/ grandson pair of presidents.
6. Who is the only president to administer the oath of office to another president?
7. Name two amendments to the Constitution which expanded the vote to additional groups of people, and the groups.
8. Can you register to vote by mail?
9. Which of these famous Supreme Court justices never served as chief justice or acting chief justice?   A. Oliver Wendell Holmes B. Louis Brandeis C. John Jay D. Earl Warren
10. Who is the only President since Zachary Taylor not to make an appointment to the US Supreme Court?   A. Carter B. Coolidge C. Ford D. Kennedy

Here are the answers:

1. It’s the 10^th Amendment to the Constitution and gives powers not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution to the states or the people.
2. John Hancock
3. True
4. Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller. After Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned in 1973, President Nixon appointed Gerald Ford vice president. Nixon resigned the following year, and Ford appointed Nelson Rockefeller vice president.
5. William Henry Harrison was the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison.
6. William Taft (As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he administered the oath of office to Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.)
7. 15th to African-American men, 19th to women, 23rd to District of Columbia – a vote for president and vice president, 24th non-payment of poll tax, 26th to ages 18 to 20
8. Yes
9. Oliver Wendell Holmes
10. Jimmy Carter