In this Op Ed, New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang discusses the importance of civics education and the work her office is doing to engage young people in government.
Today marks the first day of the New York City Department of Education’s Civics Week, a program designed to build civic readiness. But we can’t leave this important work to teachers alone. This week – especially as the nation approaches its semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of American independence – is an opportunity for my colleagues in government and me to reflect and act on the duty we owe to the next generation. As New York State Inspector General – responsible for investigating corruption in State government – I was recently reminded just how urgent it is to engage young people after visiting a classroom near our Capitol.
I was meeting with 30 college seniors studying government, and what started as a lesson about IGs who conduct government oversight turned into the students schooling me about the dearth of pathways for civic participation and public service careers for them and their peers. All but one student told me that they received their news about government from “independent journalists” on social media platforms rather than traditional outlets or the social media feeds of established news organizations and government officials. Few of them had ever met a government official in person in a context in which they could learn about the daily work of government in a meaningful way. All of them were bright and curious and wanted avenues to learn but generally did not feel that government was accessible to them.
With trust in government at its lowest point in nearly seven decades, the consequences could be profound. The data bears this out: the Center for Research on Civic Learning and Engagement shows that while 57 percent of young people across our nation report dissatisfaction with American democracy, one-third say they have no intention of civic participation – including voting in the most recent presidential election. It is incumbent on government to provide students with more pathways to engaging in our democracy.
At the New York State Inspector General’s office, our mission is to foster confidence in New York State government by providing independent oversight of the departments and agencies that New Yorkers rely on. From the Department of Motor Vehicles to the welfare and workers’ compensation systems, we work to strengthen integrity and transparency. But we know that oversight only works when the public is informed, engaged, and equipped to participate. We rely, in part, on public complaints to identify fraudulent behavior and gaps in services due to system defects. Like adult New Yorkers, students who use our roads, institutions, and public benefits are our eyes and ears for what is and isn’t working. They are also our future public servants. If they don’t know that we are here – ensuring agencies serve the public and taxpayer dollars are properly spent – how can we claim to be sustaining a government worthy of the public’s trust? And if some of those students don’t someday choose to serve then how can we count on the social safety net to be sustained when the current generation of government workers has aged out?
This is why at the IG’s office we have invested in building our social media presence and using it to share our work and receive complaints and concerns from the public. We have also developed a robust annual paid internship program for college and law students in our offices across the State to spend eight weeks working alongside the investigators, lawyers, auditors, and other professionals who make our agency operate. But we are also using Civics Week as an opportunity to expand our in-person engagement by conducting workshops with New York City schools as part of their programming this week, and making our staff available to present to schools across the State for the rest of this school year and next. And we are forming a Youth Advisory Council to convene students monthly to both identify gaps in public services and to explore government oversight as a career path.
Independent watchdog agencies like mine are intended to provide members of the public avenues to raise concerns, seek transparency, and expect integrity from government. Civic education should reflect that reality. Students should understand not only how people are elected and how laws are passed, but how their government is held accountable and how that accountability relies on their engagement.
The next 250 years of American Democracy will depend on whether the next generation understands, trusts, and invests in the safeguards that protect our institutions. By bringing independent oversight directly into classrooms, we’re reinforcing that civic participation is not confined to political engagement. It includes understanding and questioning the institutions that serve the public every day. I hope that my colleagues at all levels of government will take similar inspiration from Civics Week and make the conscious decision to reach young New Yorkers. What could be more American than investing in a civically engaged future?
Schools interested in hosting a workshop by the Inspector General’s Office should email: 40for40@ig.ny.gov or direct message us on social media: @NewYorkStateIG.
