Civics definition is — a social science dealing with the rights and duties of citizens. — Dictionary

The moneys that the Executive branch might want to use is the purview of the Congress. It’s a very rudimentary thing and we should all know a lot more than that. Regarding the broad conversation going on right now about free speech on campuses, we should be “totally, incontrovertibly” on the side of free speech.*

“Any intrusion into freedom of speech is an intrusion into freedom of speech and when one of the Presidents of one of the colleges said this is a school not a battle field I said, no, this is a battle field… of ideas and we must have dissident, dissenting opinions on campus.”

It’s easy to agree with this if you’re over 30, unfortunately if you’re under 30 you may not agree with this at all. Young people believe in something called hate speech which is somehow banned because they don’t know what the constitution says. Civics hasn’t been taught in the American public school system since 1970. So no-one sitting in Congress right now studied the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as the older generations might have regardless of what side of the aisle they eventually sat on.

“That is a critical flaw because it’s why we were so admired and respected for so long. It gives us our national identity. It tells the world who we are and why we are who we are.”

Without some kind of frame to impart the values that stand behind the Bill of Rights the various sectors of society are disconnected and that’s why teaching Civics is so important. The assumptions of both the left and the right are skewed wrong and people need to find areas of agreement and shared interest.

“And we do share the notion that education accomplishes certain things.”

It turns students into citizens. It teaches students how to run the country before it’s their turn to run the country. It teaches the values of their nation.

“People come from all over the world or are born into this nation without the values that we have here. That’s why they came here. To get them… If you don’t want that then you’ve chosen the wrong place… And what are they?”

Opportunity,… rise by merit… mobility and freedom is what America sells. You don’t get a pass by being born to it; you have to learn it.

“Even the ten commandments are not known at birth… you must learn them and we must learn our values and if we don’t we are fatally wounding ourselves.”

Without a common commitment to understanding the point of the constitution there is no real way to combat the ideas behind groups like ISIS because “we won’t know our own”. Every American should at least know the preamble to the constitution. It’s the mandate of America. There is nothing more timeless and non-partisan than this.

The Preamble to the United States Constitution is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution’s fundamental purposes and guiding principles. — wiki

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

“To teach our kids how to run our country, before they are called upon to run our country… if we don’t, someone else will run our country.”

– Richard Dreyfuss

You can sign the preamble at the Richard Dreyfuss Civics Initiative to help encourage the re-introduction of Civics into the American public school system.

Source: *Dreyfuss Interview