One of the primary purposes of public education is to foster an engaged and well-educated citizenry: For a democracy to function, the "people" who rule must be prepared to take on the duties and the rights of citizens. The panel discussed questions such as: How well has the Common Core addressed this civic purpose? Will the intellectual challenges of the English language arts and mathematics standards fully groom students for the deliberative work of citizenship? Why were the civics standards of the Common Core the last to be published, and why did the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers make these standards an optional part of Common Core implementation? What must be done to complete the work of bringing the civic purposes of education into 21st-century American education?

Panelists

Leo Casey, Executive Director, Albert Shanker Institute

Chester E. Finn, Jr., Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Meira Levinson, Associate Professor, Havard Graduate School of Education

Ross Weiner, Vice President, Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Education and Society Program

Moderator: Marla Ucelli-Kashyap, Assistant to the President for Educational Issues, American Federation of Teachers

Complete bios

Sponsored by the Albert Shanker Institute and the American Federation of Teachers, this conversation series is designed to engender lively and informative discussions on important educational issues. We deliberately invite speakers with diverse perspectives, including views other than those of the AFT and the Albert Shanker Institute. What is important is that these participants are committed to genuine engagement with each other.