The Cradle of Citizenship – How Schools Can Help Save Our Democracy

America's Founders placed great confidence in schools, which they believed would teach young people to understand our political system and to engage in reasoned political debate as adults. Yet today, when virtually all Americans graduate from high school, we remain stunningly ignorant of history and government. In 2022, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that only 13 percent of students scored a "proficient" level in history. Adults do no better: only 40 percent can name the three branches of government. In The Cradle of Citizenship, James Traub chronicles his year of observing public schools across the country, talking to teachers, scholars, and curriculum designers. He finds teachers in Florida who are afraid of discussing topics that might be seen as “woke”; a red-blue war incarnated in the 1619 Project and 1776 Report; a profound disagreement over what exactly civic education means; and, most dismayingly, ever-diminishing expectations of