Is Social Studies Important?

An article published by Julie Mack (Click Here to Read the Article) brings into question just how important social studies is, seems how there is no emphasis placed on it at schools today.  Because of federal NCLB requirements, math, science and writing scores are used to evaluate schools for AYP.  But not social studies.  As a result, schools have been forced to place more emphasis on that.  The article goes on to list some survey results about teachers' perceptions about social studies.  It's funny, because the entire premises of a public education system was to create well-informed citizens so government could run well.  But that has been put on the back burner.  If you ever watch Jay Leno's "Jay Walking", you'll see that there is a huge need for an emphasis on social studies.