Federal government gives money to schools for civics and social studies classes.
S. 5676 — Strengthening Civics Education Act · Filed by Christopher Coons (D-DE) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Sep 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill lets the Secretary of Education give grants to schools. Schools use the money for civics and social studies programs. It adds civics and social studies tests to a national test. Students in grades 4, 8, and 12 take these tests every two years. The bill expands a college grant program. It now includes groups and new topics. Topics include American political thought and Western culture. The Department of Education must make a public website. The website lists federal civics money and awards. States and schools keep control over what they teach.
Who it affects
Schools and school districts get money for civics and social studies. Colleges and groups can work together on civics programs. Teachers can get training in civics and social studies.
One thing to notice
The bill adds new tests every two years to measure civics and social studies knowledge across the country. States and schools decide what to teach, but the federal government pays for it.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Sep 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- civics — The study of how government works and how people take part in it.
- grants — Money the federal government gives to schools or groups for a specific purpose.
- groups — Organizations that work to help people or communities, not to make money for owners.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (7,259 characters) on Oct 16, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Federal government gives money to schools for civics and social studies classes.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s5676/simple Report an error
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