We organized the National Civics Bee — it’s where to start if you want better workers

Students are heading back to school in the 250th year since our nation’s founding.

Unfortunately, many of them may not be aware of what the nation’s founding entailed, as only 22% of eighth-graders in this country are proficient in civics according to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress .

These students are aware, however, that the world around them is changing, and that AI will have a profound impact on what they need to know to succeed when they leave the classroom.

Asked this month which skills will matter most as artificial intelligence reshapes work, teenagers surveyed by Common Sense Media pointed to working well with others, fact-checking and critical thinking, and making sense of complicated information.

Employers have been saying much the same thing for years, with only 18% of business leaders believing entry-level hires are ready for today’s workplace.

We tend to treat these as separate worries, one about the health of our democracy and the other about the strength of our workforce.

But they actually have more in common than one might think, and there’s a strong case to be made that improving civics knowledge would go a long way toward building the skills students and employers are seeking.

As our nation invests heavily in career pathways, credentials, artificial intelligence, and technical training, we must also invest in one of our country’s most overlooked drivers of workforce readiness: high-quality civic learning.

As the organizers and researchers of the National Civics Bee—a nationwide, nonpartisan civics competition for middle school students—we’ve witnessed firsthand how civic learning can also help students develop the skills employers and students want.

This year, more than 20,000 students are participating through over 240 local chambers of commerce and community partners across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and American Samoa.

Students gain civic knowledge and put it to use by identifying issues they see in their communities, researching those concerns from multiple perspectives, developing potential solutions, and discussing their ideas before judges.

In post-competition surveys, 98% of participants identified at least one meaningful benefit from the experience.

Nearly three-quarters improved their writing.

Many reported greater confidence discussing public issues, a stronger understanding of local government, and more frequent conversations about civic issues at home.