We are a nonprofit organization founded in June of 2004 by a small group of teachers. Five of our eight board members are currently employed in the public school system of California and Oregon. All have classroom experience.
This project was motivated by the need to do something about the lack of importance our society places on voting. There
is so much talk about raising standards in the public schools,
but where does civic responsibility rank amongst these
standards? It pops up here and there, but the emphasis is
minimal. We are asked to give endless assessments in reading, writing, and
math. Why are we not assessing civic responsibility?
We
have produced a complacent population with regards to voting, and this must
change. We believe it should be integrated in some degree at
all grade levels. We should be teaching our children to treasure the
right to vote from the first days of elementary school.
Contrary
to assumptions, this is not a political group. We are not Democrats or
Republicans. We are not the Greens, the Libertarians, the Socialists, or the
Reform Party.
- We advocate
for no political ideology.
- We
support no special interests but those of children.
- We propose no social agenda but to be awake, to discuss ideas, to
think critically, and to vote.
We
are teachers reaching out to other teachers. And to parents, neighbors, and
concerned people everywhere. Our goal is to start educating children at a young
age and continue to reinforce the value of how precious democracy is and
how important it is to vote.
We look forward to hearing from you. Please email us if you have any comments or questions.
Sincerely,
Madonnabelle de Leon, Co-founder
Adam
Boettcher, Co-founder