February 24, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Nan Eileen Mead

naneileen@democracyreadyny.org

DEMOCRACYREADY NY ANNOUNCES 4TH ANNUAL NEW YORK CIVIC LEARNING WEEK

Events will align with NY250 Commemoration and feature educators, youth, school officials, and civic leaders.

The DemocracyReady NY Coalition will host a series of virtual events to celebrate New York Civic Learning Week, which will take place this year from March 9 - 13, 2026. All events will be free and accessible to the public, and participants will include students, parents, school and district leaders, educators, policymakers, and youth-serving organizations. Co-sponsors include the New York State 250th Commemoration Commission, New York State Bar Association, New York State School Boards Association, and New York State United Teachers (NYSUT).

In 2023, expanding on the NYC Public Schools Civics Week celebrations, part of its ongoing Civics for All initiative, DemocracyReady NY launched NY Civic Learning Week to highlight the importance of civic education and civic readiness for a broad, statewide audience. Since the statewide celebration began in 2023, thousands of people have registered to join one or more NY Civic Learning Week events.

“Every student in New York has the right to an education that prepares and motivates them to participate fully in our democracy,” said Nan Eileen Mead, Co-Executive Director of DemocracyReady NY.  “As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States later this year, New York has a historic opportunity to strengthen civic learning for all students - regardless of zip code - from the earliest grades through graduation. 

The week’s events will showcase the importance of civic education in sustaining and strengthening constitutional democracy in the United States. “NY Civic Learning Week is also an opportunity for schools, districts, and the Coalition’s member organizations to celebrate by planning their own civic learning activities,” said Jessica R. Wolff, Co-Executive Director of DemocracyReady NY. The Coalition will issue regular updates on these events in the lead-up to Civic Learning Week.

DemocracyReady NY’s annual virtual statewide Summit on Civic Readiness will take place on Tuesday, March 10, 4:00-6:00 PM, as a centerpiece of New York Civic Learning Week. The event, titled “Civic Readiness at 250–NY’s Past, Present, and Future,” will feature a talk with historian Steven Mintz about the experiences of young people in New York State in the Revolutionary War years; a panel of youth civic leaders presenting their important research and advocacy work; and a youth-led interview with Melinda Person, president of NYSUT, about the role of schools and educators in ensuring civic readiness for the future of democracy.

Throughout the week, DemocracyReady NY will also release two prerecorded video presentations: (1) a youth-led training for holding difficult civic conversations from Coalition member organization New York Student Engaged Citizenship (NYSEC) which features Oliver Kaiden and Dylan Lemberg, 12th-graders from the Hudson Valley, and (2) a collection of short “Seal Stories,” video descriptions from students’ and educators’ experiences with projects related to the Seal of Civic Readiness, collected by DemocracyReady NY.

On Friday, March 13, DemocracyReady NY will host an Issue Briefing for legislators and their staff, highlighting the importance of strengthening investment in civic readiness.

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) includes “civic readiness” as a graduation measure under its Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan. DemocracyReady NY members were instrumental in NYSED’s Civic Readiness Task Force, whose recommendations led to the Seal of Civic Readiness graduation pathway, which was rolled out in 2021. To date, more than 830 schools across the state offer civic learning opportunities and experiences that enable students to earn the Seal. However, greater investment is needed to ensure all students across the state have access to this important opportunity. 

As FY27 budget discussions heat up in Albany, DemocracyReady NY is calling on state leaders to make targeted, strategic investments that would strengthen civic learning statewide and enable the State Education Department to integrate civic and media/AI literacy competencies into new graduation requirements:

  • $2.5 million to strengthen elementary civic learning, supporting pilot programs and professional development;

  • $5 million to expand access to and professional learning around the State Education Department’s Seal of Civic Readiness, with a focus on underserved districts; and 

  • $15 million to advance media and AI literacy, including funding for certified library media specialists in every school, creation of a statewide Media & AI Literacy Task Force, support for pilot programs and professional learning.

“The nation’s 250th anniversary must be a call to action,” said Jessica Wolff, Co-Executive Director of DemocracyReady NY. “By investing in civic development from early childhood through graduation, New York can strengthen democracy, elevate student voices, and prepare new generations of informed, engaged civic leaders.”

DemocracyReady NY is a nonpartisan, multigenerational statewide coalition working to ensure that high-quality civic learning reaches all students, regardless of zip code, and empowers the next generation to participate fully and responsibly in public life. DemocracyReady NY’s membership includes statewide organizations such as NYSUT, New York State School Boards Association, the New York State Grange, League of Women Voters, Rural Schools Association, the state PTA, and New York Library Association, as well as cross-sector representation from youth, educators, civic-education providers, and youth-serving organizations across the state. Founded in 2018 as a project of the Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University, DemocracyReady NY became an independent organization in 2025. 

For more information, go to: www.democracyreadyny.org.

Co-Executive Directors

Jessica R. Wolff

Nan Eileen Mead

Executive Committee

Martine Dosa ‘26

Yale University

Rashid Duroseau

DemocracyPrep

Shira Epstein, EdD

City College of NY

DK Holland

Inquiring Minds Institute

Lisa Kissinger

NYS Council of the Social Studies

Carolyn Ostrander, PhD

NYS Grange/Rural Schools Association

Melinda Person

NYS United Teachers

Ebonie Simpson

Generation Citizen

Erica Smitka

League of Women Voters of NYS

Kelly Wetherbee

Media Literacy Now

Jay Worona

NYS School Boards Association