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Teaching the Constitution

By TChris, Section Constitution
Posted on Fri Sep 16, 2005 at 08:03:43 AM EST
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by TChris

As a general rule, the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of micro-managing a school’s curriculum, even if the school receives federal funding. Still, it’s easy to understand Senator Byrd’s frustration that schools have done a poor job of teaching the history and meaning of the United States Constitution.

In December he inserted into a giant spending bill a passage requiring every American school receiving federal money to teach about the Constitution on Sept. 17, the date it was signed in 1787.

Constitutional history is an unlikely subject at the massage and cosmetology schools that are subject to the law, and there are reasons to fear congressional interference with local control of schools. Do we want the federal government telling schools that they should teach intelligent design alongside, or instead of, evolution?

Byrd is nonetheless right to believe that people need to know more about the Constitution.

"There's a crying need for every American, starting early in their lives, to get inspired by this document, to cherish this document," Mr. Byrd said. "They should read it over and over. They should love it.

"It affects every day of our lives, every act we take! It's the foundation for our entire society! It's the anchor, the compass, the guiding light!"

"People revere the Constitution," he added, "yet know so little about it - and that goes for some of my fellow senators."

To that end, federal distribution of copies of the Constitution is a welcome idea.

Popular support for Constitution Day has "nearly overwhelmed" him, [Byrd] said. Some people have even approached him in the supermarket, brandishing their own pocket editions of the Constitution and congratulating him, he said.

The need to improve the nation’s understanding of constitutional history is obvious.

Citing a 1998 survey carried out for the National Constitution Center, an independent nonprofit group, he said: "More young Americans could name the Three Stooges than the three branches of government."

The president’s defining piece of domestic legislation, “No Child Left Untested,” focuses on reading and math, perhaps because the president doesn’t want kids to understand the rights that his administration routinely violates. Schools should be encouraged to give equal attention to the founding principles of our country.

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    Teaching the Constitution | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: Teaching the Constitution (none / 0) (#1)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:54 PM EST
    Sounds like a great idea, and would dovetail nicely with the new pledge aahpat came up with: I pledge allegiance to the Constitution and to the Bill of Rights of America. And to the Declaration of Independence, Upon which we stand as One nation under law. Indivisible. With liberty and justice for all.

    Re: Teaching the Constitution (none / 0) (#2)
    by Pete Guither on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:54 PM EST
    I am continually upset with the lack of knowledge that the general population has about the constitution and the bill of rights. And the first step should be a Constitution class that all of our Senators and Representatives must take and pass before being allowed to speak on the floor of Congress (they'd also have to show proof of successful completion whenever they submit or co-sponsor a bill).

    Re: Teaching the Constitution (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:54 PM EST
    Today at work is our Constitution Day observance. We have a display by the main entrance for students to look at and there will be two lectures on campus that are open to the general public. One is dealing with the importance of how this document shaped our society today, and for the life of me I can't remember what the topic, besides the Constitution, of the other lecture is about. I was planning on attending at least one of the lectures, but as it turns out we are understaffed today. But hey, I'm just glad the Constitution is still around to celebrate. Maybe not for much longer, but for now every U.S. citizen should be proud of this document, about what it stands for and how it has influenced so many other countries around the world.

    Re: Teaching the Constitution (none / 0) (#4)
    by cpinva on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:55 PM EST
    that would be a great idea, except................sept. 17th falls on a saturday this year. certainly, i can't argue with the sen.'s premise, given the almost total lack of knowledge exhibited by most school-age children of the document. however, based on what i have personally experienced, as the parent of two school-age children, both attending public schools, the school administrations are critically in need of this education first, since they seem to be of the opinion that it doesn't apply to their institutions.

    Re: Teaching the Constitution (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:55 PM EST
    Were the delegates to that hoary Convention to have had George W. Bush in their midst, oh what a day that would have truly been. They would have raised a cheer! Carrying him on their shoulders, they would have given him that most-respected chair: Seat of Honor

    Re: Teaching the Constitution (none / 0) (#6)
    by Aaron on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:57 PM EST
    What this is really about is trying to foist some constitutional fundamentalist or "strict constructionist" interpretation on to children in elementary and middle schools in attempt to indoctrinate them with the latest conservative propaganda. The Conservatives better be careful what they wish for, because if the next-generation realizes that the U.S. Constitution is not something that any of them ever had any say in, agreed to or signed off on, they might just decide to write their own.

    Teaching the Constitution | 6 comments (6 topical)