Republicans are seizing on a new target in education culture wars: Action civics.

It's a term that has been around for a while but it's increasingly getting more attention, especially as the 2022 campaigns start to kick into high gear and conservatives tap into parents' fears about what's taught in schools.

Action civics goes beyond traditional civic education. It calls for participating in the political process, which has led to anything from students advocating for fellow students who are hungry or experiencing homelessness — or raising awareness about LGBTQ issues, protesting climate change, or staging walkouts to protest gun violence.

To conservatives, action civics is another form of left-wing "indoctrination," similar to their view of critical race theory, the college-level study of racial bias that they believe – despite educators' denials – has crept into K-12 teaching. And they're working to keep it out of their classrooms.