UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — From changing state standards to ongoing culture war controversies to artificial intelligence, delivering quality civic education in America’s schools is more challenging than ever. The Rendell Center for Civics and Civic Engagement is one of many organizations addressing this challenge and will present a lecture on its work Sept. 25 as part of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s 2025 Brown Democracy Medal ceremony.
Rendell Center co-founder Marjorie Rendell and executive director Beth Specker will present from their forthcoming book, “A Republic if You Can Teach It: Educating the Next Generation of Citizens,” which will be published later this fall by Cornell University Press. Rendell is the former First Lady of Pennsylvania and saw the need to expand civic education in the commonwealth as she visited schools across the state.
“I decided that I would promote civics education in the schools as my platform,” Rendell said. “Civics education has not been at the forefront in the classroom because history and social studies are not tested on all these standardized tests that are being given.”
Established in 2014, the Rendell Center works with K-12 teachers and administrators to promote non-partisan civic education and engagement. The center’s major initiatives include a read aloud series where judges, lawyers and other professionals read books to elementary school students across the state.
The Rendell Center also hosts virtual and in-person summer professional development workshops for teachers on issues including the First Amendment and judicial independence and produces the podcasts "Judges on Judging" and "Beyond the Gavel" as additional resources for teachers.
Ed Rendell, who served as Pennsylvania’s governor from 2003 to 2011, said that both he and Marjorie realized the need for early intervention after traveling around the state to promote civics education and mainly speaking to high school students.
“If you teach kids about our government, they’ll respond. It’s amazing how much they know and how much they want to know,” Ed Rendell said.
The Brown Democracy Medal was created by Larry and Lynne Brown to recognize new and innovative scholarship or practice in democracy. Both are Penn State alumni, and Larry is chair of the McCourtney Institute’s Board of Visitors. The award’s previous recipients include the States United Democracy Center, Desmond Meade, executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, and Iranian human rights advocate Nasrin Sotoudeh.
The Brown Democracy Medal ceremony and lecture will be held Sept. 25 at 4 p.m. in 603 Barron Innovation Hub. The event is free and open to the public. Visit the McCourtney Institute for Democracy website for more information.