This article emphasizes the importance of civic education in helping U.S. students participate as citizens in the democratic process. The problem is that the Jeffersonia vision of grass roots democracy fueled by education increasingly is viewed as utopian and what is especially disturbing is that the school reform movement of the 1980s has paid insufficient attention to educating students about the nation's history and institutions. In a world where human survival is at stake, ignorance about public issues is not an acceptable alternative. Civic education also must provide students with a core of basic knowledge regarding social issues and institutions to give their understanding of democracy perspective. Further, civics classrooms should be active, not passive. The National Assessment of Educational Progress found that textbook reading assignments were, by far, the most common method of instruction in civics classroom. Students, while they are in school, are members of an institution, and they should understand how it works and participate, within the school itself, in decisions that affect their lives--just as they will be asked to do later on. The goal is not to indoctrinate students but to provide a climate in which civic choices can be thoughtfully examined and convictions formed. INSETS: So You Want to Begin Community Service...;CIVITAS: A New Curriculum Framework for Civic Education.