FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Ray Carter, House Media
Capitol: (405) 557-7421

Contact: State Rep. Gary Banz Contact: State Rep. Bill Nations
Capitol: (405) 557-7395 Capitol: (405) 557-7323
Midwest City: (405) 769-5722 Norman: (405) 321-0505

Lawmakers Attend National Civic Education Conference

OKLAHOMA CITY (October 3) - Fresh from their trip to the Third Annual
Congressional Conference on Civic Education, a bipartisan pair of state
lawmakers plan to take stock of Oklahoma schools in an effort to improve
civic education.
"Over the next two years, we want to survey schools and
determine the status of civic education in Oklahoma," said State Rep.
Bill Nations, D-Norman. "Hopefully, this process will energize people
across the state and we'll cap everything off with a summit on civic
education in our 2007 centennial year."
"The challenge we face is to promote civic education in a way
that rises above the partisanship that accompanies our political
process," said State Rep. Gary Banz, R-Midwest City. "It's our belief
that the importance of civic participation can be stressed in Oklahoma
classrooms without dividing students along ideological lines."
Both men attended the Third Annual Congressional Conference on
Civic Education on September 24-26 in Washington, D.C.
The conference is a congressionally funded five-year effort to
elevate civic education curriculum in public schools.
According to conference officials, "the first two Congressional
Conferences succeeded in sparking a proactive movement in each state to
restore the civic mission of schools." This year's conference was "the
third of five planned annual conferences designed to focus public
attention on the state of civic education in America."
More than 400 people from 50 states and eight countries attended
this year's conference.
This is the third year Nations has attended while Banz, who
taught in Oklahoma Public Schools for 28 years, was making his second
trip.
The two men said the proposed survey of Oklahoma schools will
help policymakers identify any weaknesses in the state school system and
help officials improve civic education efforts.
"It is important that we encourage our young people to play an
active role in their communities, their state and their nation," Banz
said. "And this program could be a major
part of that learning process."
"You can't overestimate the impact of civic education," Nations
said. "After all, today's students will be the leaders of tomorrow's
government."

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