Confucius in ancient China and Plato in ancient Greece taught the importance of citizenship, rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and citizen participation in the affairs of society. When the United States declared independence from England in 1776, national education became a priority, including the teaching of national values, government, ethics, and justice in public life. Founding American documents, such as the U.S. Constitution, reflected those values and rights; they were taught for generations as essential student learning.

But in the 1960s, education priorities changed; pure math and pure science learning and individual development were deemed by many educators to be learning priorities, rather than traditional, civic learning of days past. So, for more than 50 years, civic learning has diminished as a core subject area for students at all education levels. Numerous surveys prove it.

In 2006, the nonprofit Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) tested 14,000 freshman and senior college students from 50 universities, asking them sixty multiple-choice questions about basic history, government, economics, and foreign policy. Almost all 14,000 students flunked the exam, except for Harvard students, who scored a D+ on the test.

A few years later, ISI tested more than 3,000 adults, asking them similar questions. The average score was 49 percent, with those who had been public officials scoring five percentage points worse than the average adult.

In 2011, Newsweek published a cover story titled, "How Dumb Are We?" Newsweek tested 1,000 Americans on the immigrant citizenship test questions that applicants for citizenship must pass if they're to become U.S. citizens. Americans scored miserably, 38 percent failed, some not knowing how long a U.S. Senate term is, unaware of the name of the president of the United States during World War II, and 73 percent couldn't answer who the U.S. fought in the Cold War. The nonprofit, nonpartisan George Nethercutt Foundation surveyed 800 Americans nationally in 2012, asking three questions:

•Should candidates for federal office know basic history, economics, government, foreign policy, and civics? Yes, said 74.1 percent.

•Should these topics be part of a core curriculum for students in America? Yes, said 85 percent.

•Should all Americans be able to pass the immigrant citizenship test that applicants for citizenship must pass in order to become citizens? Yes, said 67 percent.

Notice the drop-off in the third question. Apparently, there's some apprehension among those surveyed that they didn't want to have to take the test, but still, over two-thirds answered affirmatively.

Based on these findings, and many others in the public domain, it's clear that civic learning has waned for years. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) survey periodically conducted nationally since at least 1998 by the U.S. Department of Education, testing fourth, eighth, and 12th graders on civics, math, and science, shows that civic learning scores are sub-par, with only about 12 percent of students reaching proficiency levels.

In the April 2012 edition of Harvard Magazine, two prominent professors concluded that American universities are short-changing students and their parents by not including a civic learning component in every major subject taught in college, opining that science and math findings have social consequences that can be weaved into the learning process so that the student emerges from a university education sensitive to the societal impact of pure academic study.

The National Endowment for the Humanities has similarly found that those who are civically engaged have stronger families and participate in their communities more often.

Therefore, it's in our collective best interests that civic learning be emphasized strongly in U.S. education in order to make democracy work better.

That's why the George Nethercutt Foundation is sponsoring a regionwide 2013 Citizenship Tournament for students of Eastern Washington in fourth, eighth, and 12th grades with the promise of up to $10,000 scholarships, valuable prizes and merchandise, and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to the winners to meet members of Congress, government officials, lobbyists, and members of the national press.

We'll also recognize teachers who engage with the tournament and include teachers and parents in the group traveling for a week to our nation's capital.

Every student who participates in at least one round of competition and completes several civic engagement opportunities will win a prize. The tournament will be extracurricular, not burdening teachers and schools with another mandate, yet providing opportunity for all students to benefit. It is the foundation's hope that the tournament won't attract only A and B students, but also C and D students, because getting into the habit of civic learning is a lifelong endeavor.

Available at a modest cost to students, parents, schools, and teachers will be an electronic "app" for learning and a printed official tournament study guide containing essential information to enhance learning and help students prepare for the tournament finals this December. The foundation will be running a television segment with its media partner, KHQ-TV, titled "U.S. History by the Minute," with 60-second history lessons taken from my book, "In Tune with America: Our History in Song," which contains essential U.S. history and incorporates the music of American history.

With the support of the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Washington, parents, teachers, schools, business sponsors, and foundation supporters, Spokane and Eastern Washington can become the Citizenship Center of the World.

The foundation is physically located in Spokane and online at www.nethercuttfoundation.org. Volunteers and sponsors for the tournament and History Minutes are welcome to contact me at [email protected].

Let's all make Eastern Washington a model for student learning and civic engagement.