Rep. Vargas has been working on civics since he was 16.
Rep. Vargas reflected on the passage of the bill in a Facebook Post:
Today— #Civics is officially signed, sealed, and delivered! 8 years ago a bunch of teens said that the most important thing schools can do is teach all youth how to be engaged and responsible participants in our democracy. We said it was a problem that only some students had access to participating and learning this at a young age. We filed a bill.
In 2011, the Globe endorsed that bill. Like most bills, it takes years. Today, finally- project based civics education was signed into law.
So many people to thank, especially the advocates and staff. This bipartisan bill is a model for the rest of the nation.