Why It Matters
As the nation marks the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, education officials and civic leaders are raising questions about whether American schools are adequately teaching the character and moral foundations that the Founding Fathers viewed as essential to democracy. The balance between academic instruction and civic education has become a pressing policy question for state education systems.
What Happened
Maryland has positioned itself as a national leader in institutionalizing civic values within public schools. The state mandated that every public school student complete at least 75 hours of service-learning in community settings—making Maryland the first state to establish such a requirement. Civics instruction is delivered through social studies curricula spanning from prekindergarten through high school, and the state has also implemented social and emotional learning programs designed to cultivate ethical decision-making and empathy among students.
The state Department of Education’s civic standards have drawn praise from the Maryland Civic Education Coalition. However, educators and civic advocates are now concerned that schools are losing ground on social studies instruction as literacy and math initiatives consume increasing amounts of classroom time.
Journalist Ezra Klein recently recounted a conversation with a history scholar about how early American liberalism differed from contemporary understandings. “It was actually more about moral development and certain character development that they [our forebearers] felt was so very important,” Klein noted, pointing to works like Jeffrey Rosen’s “Pursuit of Happiness,” which examines how the Founding Fathers emphasized virtue as a central principle for sustaining democracy.
By the Numbers
75 hours — minimum service-learning requirement for Maryland public school students
Prekindergarten through high school — grade span in which civics instruction is delivered through social studies
Zoom Out
The tension between academics and civic education is not unique to Maryland. Across the United States, schools have faced mounting pressure to prioritize literacy and numeracy in the wake of standardized testing regimes and federal accountability measures. Meanwhile, social studies and civics instruction—historically viewed as foundational to preparing informed citizens—have been crowded to the margins of the school day in many districts.
Several states have moved to strengthen civics education in recent years, recognizing that democratic participation requires more than basic academic skills. Maryland’s service-learning mandate and comprehensive civics framework reflect a deliberate policy choice to embed character development and civic engagement into the school experience, grounded in the belief that schools should cultivate not just competence but also the moral reasoning necessary for responsible citizenship.
Addressing Instructional Time Constraints
The Maryland Council for Social Studies has called for protected instructional time for both social studies and science, citing concerns that crowded curricula leave insufficient space for meaningful civic learning. The challenge is particularly acute in elementary grades, where reading and mathematics requirements dominate the schedule. Higher grades have somewhat more capacity to accommodate social studies instruction, but the overall squeeze on non-tested subjects remains a structural barrier to comprehensive civic education.
What’s Next
Maryland policymakers will likely continue grappling with how to preserve and expand civic education without sacrificing progress in literacy and mathematics. The state’s existing mandates—the service-learning requirement and social studies standards—provide a framework, but educators and advocates are signaling that further action may be needed to ensure schools have the time and resources to deliver meaningful instruction in character, virtue, and civic responsibility alongside core academic content.