Civic education lacking, Montana officials say. A girl in junior history class thought Condoleeza Rice was a Thai food.

An opinion poll conducted by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans can identify all five members of the cartoon family the Simpsons but only one in 1,000 can identify all five freedoms the First Amendment contains.

There is a bevy of evidence, both anecdotal and more concrete, that civic education, both in Montana and across the United States, is sorely lacking. Education theorist John Dewey said, “Democracy needs to be reborn in each generation and education is its midwife.”

By JENNY TISKUS of Represent

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2006/11/29/schools/4_u22.txt