Much has been said about the achievement gap, which Democracy Prep strives to reverse every day. Very little, however, is said about the "civic achievement gap." With few exceptions, the civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes of low-income Americans, as measured by voter registration rates, voting records, political contribution records, and civic volunteering rates, are far lower than the rest of the population.
In spite of this, too many of our public schools, and not only in low-income communities, contribute to the problem by cutting civics programs—effectively committing civic malpractice. This is causing a vicious downward cycle of disengagement from American democracy.
We believe that public schools should place an explicit focus on preparing scholars to become active citizens and leaders. Through civic initiatives, community engagement, mandatory speech and debate, as well as authentic student and family advocacy for more excellent schools, our scholars acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitude to change the world.
Register to Vote
Each Election Day, Democracy Prep scholars "Get Out The Vote," standing on busy street corners wearing t-shirts and handing out flyers that read: I Can't Vote, but You Can!
Over the past five years, they have encouraged over 50,000 Harlem voters to get out the vote.
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Education Reformer
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Know Your Representatives
One of the concepts we emphasize most to our scholars is that as citizens we must hold our representatives accountable for their voting decisions and their leadership. In order to do that, our scholars, as early as sixth grade, learn who their representatives are at every level and branch of government. When our scholars hit the streets to encourage the Harlem community to vote, we, without fail, find that they are asked who is running, and for what...Our 11-year-olds wind up teaching the adults, rather than vice versa. Are you as civically informed as a Democracy Prep scholar?
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Civic Action Alerts
Democracy Prep scholars are the youngest to testify in state houses in two states. While our scholars do not engage in partisan political activity while at school, they are deeply passionate when it comes to advocating for excellent schools. Each year, Democracy Prep scholars and families attend rallies, hearings, and other events to advocate for better schools. If you sign up for Civic Action Alerts we will text you to notify you of urgent events, remind you to vote, and let you know about other opportunities to be civically engaged.
