Hoping to set the stage for a lifetime of good citizenship for Maine’s youth, a group made up of people from around the state will begin meeting next month to recommend ways to involve more students in civic and political affairs.

Research suggests that young people who are involved in the democratic processes in their schools and in their communities are more likely to be involved in civic and political activities as adults, Patrick Phillips, deputy education commissioner said. He is helping to lead the new citizenship education task force.

Created by legislation last session, the group includes educators, lawmakers, lawyers, business leaders and representatives from state government and civic groups.

Also on the panel will be members of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council, which includes high school and college students who advise lawmakers on youth-related issues.

The task force aims to provide guidance, material and strategies for school systems to use as they tailor their social studies programs around citizenship.

Plans are to hold statewide public forums to talk to young people about why they should participate in civic life and about the barriers that could prevent others from doing the same.

An interim report must be issued next winter and final recommendations in December 2005.

Since civics is covered by Maine Learning Results – the state’s new academic standards – students are required to learn about such things as constitutional principles and the democratic foundations of national, state and local systems.

But Phillips said that’s not enough. “Young people shouldn’t only understand the democratic institutions and processes, but be motivated to participate,” he said.

“Part of it is changing the curriculum,” said Francine Rudoff, executive director of the KIDS Consortium, a Lewiston-based group that promotes learning through community involvement.

“But it’s not only the responsibility of schools,” said Rudoff, who also will serve on the committee. “There’s a lot of interest in talking with legislators, local government, and nonprofit organizations about how they might provide more opportunities for young people to be involved in civic life outside of school.”

To help move its focus on citizenship education forward, Maine has applied for a $150,000 grant from the Carnegie Corp. and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of the newly launched Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools.

The campaign represents a coalition of more than 40 educators, civic officials and organizations that believe effective citizenship education in schools calls for:

. Classes in government, history, law and democracy.

. Discussions of current events, making sure students receive fair information.

. Community service linked to curriculum.

. Extracurricular opportunities for students to get involved in school and the community.

By helping students develop the skills necessary for effective participation in democracy, schools will be preserving their civic mission, Phillips said.

“It’s a critical initial founding idea of our public schools and one which the task force aims to remind people of,” he said.

Nationwide, that mission has been pushed to the back burner, said Peter Levine, a researcher on civic learning at the University of Maryland and a member of the steering committee for the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools.

While the purpose of schools is often cited as “readiness for work or college, people often forget about readiness for citizenship,” he said.

Maine is part of a national trend toward reviving citizenship education, prompted in part by a steady decline in voting among 18- to 30-year-olds since 1972, according to Levine.

“Young people are saying that politics isn’t relevant and that there are ways to make the world better that don’t involve politics like volunteering, which has increased a bit since 1990,” he said.

Maine has seen a 19 percentage point increase in voting by people 18 to 24 – the highest in the nation, said Doug Dunbar, deputy secretary of state.

Law changes like same day voting registration and outreach efforts to young people such as mock elections, likely contributed to the increase, he said.

Still, only 60 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in Maine in 2000, according to Dunbar. “We’re the leader nationally, but we can do better,” he said.

Legislative Youth Advisory Council members on the new citizenship education task force will motivate young people to become more civic-minded, said council adviser Nancy Connolly of the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie Institute.

Many of the young people who have served on the 3-year-old council – the only one of its kind in the nation – now are working on political campaigns and even have aspirations to run for the Legislature, she said.