Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has approved a budget for FY23 that increases the Commonwealth’s funding for civic education from $1.5 million to $2 million.

The 33% increase in the allocation for the Civic Project Trust Fund will go to state and local education officials to help develop and implement programs for students and teachers across Massachusetts. The increase is the result of a six month campaign led by civic education leaders and the Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition (MCLC).

Organized by the Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition (MCLC), this week builds on and contributes to the state’s efforts to improve civic education in order to prepare all members of the Commonwealth to be thoughtful, informed, and engaged members of our democracy.

January is a time for new beginnings. But as the pandemic rages on through an already-challenging school year, how can teachers introduce the energy of a fresh start? This January, try contracting, or re-contracting, in your classroom.

Election Day is upon us.

This statement is full of promise, and perhaps more than a little trepidation. As we know, Election Day concludes the exercise of our most foundational right as Americans. This foundational right has been hard-fought and was hard-won across the span of our history, quietly and loudly, on our nation’s streets and in the halls of our government institutions. It has taken persistence and patience, but also blood and perseverance all in the cause of democratic inclusion. Is this foundational right cast in stone? We know it is not.

Photo: Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate

Did you come to this post by way of social media? Are you about to jump to Twitter? YouTube? Instagram? Join the club. More than 7 in 10 U.S. adults use some type of social media, according to Pew Research Center. Further, Common Sense Media found that this number is 96 percent for teens, and that 77 percent of teens get news and headlines from social media.