Civics, or lack thereof

I've got an item on this week's agenda on the teaching of science and social studies in K-6 (of which more later), but it seems appropriate to send you over to Hess on the lack of the teaching of civics and related lack of the focus on forming future citizens in public education.

From the dawn of the Western tradition, dating back to Plato, Aristotle, and their contemporaries, education has been regarded as essential to the formation of good citizens and the cultivation of a proper attachment to the state. For America's founders such as Benjamin Rush, Noah Webster, and Thomas Jefferson, one of the main functions of schools was producing democratic citizens.

And you know I don't quote Hess often!
UPDATE: He's followed it up today with more that's absolutely right.