Budgets Show What Government Values

Reader Unit 12, pages 45-48 of The Constitution Kids.

Find a moment where the group has to choose what matters most because resources are limited.

The story path points toward choices about resources, priorities, and tradeoffs, making budgets feel like civic documents rather than spreadsheets.

Core civic idea: Budgets translate public values into choices about power, services, and responsibility.

Every year, your town decides how to spend millions of dollars. But beyond numbers and spreadsheets, the local budget reveals what a community truly cares about — from schools and parks to emergency services and public art.

Assign the reading, then use the connected topic as the classroom explainer or discussion guide.

A short video lesson connecting this part of the story to the civic idea is planned.