Florida League of Cities In Favor of Civics Bill

Source: Sharon Berrian

During the League's Legislative Action Day, President Priore testified before the House Pre-K Policy Committee in favor of Rep. Charles McBurney's bill on Civics Education in the Classroom.

When Carmine Priore became president of the Florida League of Cities he pledged that he would spend his tenure implementing a statewide campaign to increase knowledge of civics and promote greater public participation in our political process. Since then, he has traveled around the state speaking to students, civic organizations and other elected officials about the importance of civics.

President Priore believes that " City officials must be teachers in classrooms, in city halls and in our communities. We will all benefit if more citizens understand what services cities provide, how we pay for those services, and how residents can impact their city's quality of life through active participation in their government."

(ed. Note: Representative McBurney’s bil, H0013, has recently been amended to assess only Civics in grades six – eight in Florida in order to lessen the overall fiscal impact of assessing all of social studies.) From: http://www.floridaleagueofcities.com/News.aspx?CNID=657

President Priore's Civics Education Initiative
There’s no better time than now for city officials to help take civics education to the next level.
Why?Because civics education builds stronger cities and a brighter future for Florida. And because there is a great need for civics knowledge as recent polls, surveys and voter turnout have confirmed.

What about the cost?The Florida League of Cities has many ideas for no-cost and low-cost civics education programs and partnerships – and many are very easy to implement.

What do you have to lose?More than you think. The passage of several constitutional amendments and various legislative initiatives that were damaging to city governance show the need to educate Floridians about the services provided by their municipal governments and how those services are funded. With a better understanding of city issues, would these proposals even have an audience?

Every city can do something – don’t miss the opportunity to make a difference.

Florida League of Cities President Carmine Priore has launched the “Building Citizenship in the Community: Back to Basics” campaign to help increase civic awareness and participation. He encourages each Florida municipality to support this initiative.

The Florida League of Cities encourages each city to adopt the “Back to Basics” resolution supporting President Carmine Priore in his efforts to improve civic education in the State of Florida.

Sample Resolution
“Educating our citizens on the fundamentals of city services and what it takes to effectively run a city is going to be essential as we continue to be forced to ‘tighten our municipal belts,’ do more with less, and still maintain the level of service demanded by our citizenry,” Priore says.

Current ProgramsThe Florida League of Cities has several resources ready to help. They were developed to increase Floridians’ understanding of city government and the services they provide. These materials will help with civics outreach efforts for people of all ages.

Related Articles:
· Back to Basics Resolution Request Source: Casey Cook
· Civic Education Best Practices Source: Casey Cook
· Civic Education
· A Guide for Creating a City Youth Council Source: Casey Cook
· A Guide for Creating a Citizens' Academy Source: Beth Mulrennan
· Florida Municipal Officials' Manual Source: Gail Dennard
· 2008 Municipal Brain Bowl Source: Estella Gray
· FLC Donates $25,000 to Florida Joint Center for Citizenship Source: Sharon Berrian
· ABCs of City Government Source: Beth Mulrennan
· "Getting to Know Your Florida Cities" DVD Source: Sharon Berrian