H.R. 8402 — Civics Learning Act of 2026

This section declares congressional findings on inadequate civics education contributing to political polarization and democratic erosion, including that only 47% of Americans can name all three branches of government (25% naming none), 46% correctly identify the Supreme Court's final authority on law constitutionality, 26% can name no First Amendment rights, and 22% of eighth graders performed at or above proficient on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress civics exam.

This section revises the civics education grants program under ESEA §2233 by (1) requiring the Department of Education to prioritize innovative civics learning and teaching, including at high-need schools; (2) expanding allowable grant activities to include hands-on civic engagement, instruction on constitutional history (including the Bill of Rights, women's suffrage, and the civil rights movement), before-/after-school and extracurricular programs, service learning, student school governance, and online/video game-based learning; (3) requiring geographic diversity in grants (i.e., urban, suburban, rural areas, and public elementary schools) and allocating at least 30% of funds to elementary schools, at least 30% to middle schools, and no more than 40% to high schools; (4) giving grant award preference to programs implementing the expanded activities to strengthen civics education; (5) requiring annual reports to congressional education committees on grantees, achievement of program purposes, and program recommendations; and (6) authorizing $70 million for FY2027, in addition to funds reserved under ESEA §2231(b)(2). (As background, the program awards competitive grants to eligible entities such as nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education for teacher professional development and instructional materials to promote instruction on U.S. history, civics, and government.)