Law Requires Lessons on Constitution - Democratic Underground

paineinthearse

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Jul-19-05 06:07 AM
Original message

Law Requires Lessons on Constitution

Edited on Tue Jul-19-05 06:47 AM by paineinthearse

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/18/AR2005071801585.html

Law Requires Lessons on Constitution
Federal Workers, Students Affected

By Valerie Strauss and Lori Aratani
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, July 19, 2005; A01

It's not often that first-graders, CIA agents, agriculture inspectors and airport security workers from coast to coast all receive a lesson on the same topic -- and on the same day -- but that is what's in store this September. The subject is the U.S. Constitution, thanks to a new law fathered by Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), who is worried that so many people don't know the first thing about the country's governing document that he decided to try to make sure they do.

Tucked into a massive appropriations bill approved without fanfare late last year by Congress is the requirement that every one of the estimated 1.8 million federal employees in the executive branch receive "educational and training" materials about the charter on Constitution Day, a holiday celebrating the Sept. 17, 1787, signing that is so obscure that it, unlike Arbor Day, is left off many calendars. That's not all: The law requires every school that receives federal funds -- including universities -- to show students a program on the Constitution, though it does not specify a particular one. The demand has proved unpopular with educators, who say that they don't like the federal government telling them what to teach and that it doesn't make the best educational sense to teach something as important as the Constitution out of context.

<snip>

Byrd was not available for comment, but his spokesman, Tom Gavin, said many teachers had called the senator to thank him for creating this opportunity to teach the Constitution. The law offers some leeway if the holiday falls on a weekend, as it does this September. Some agencies and schools will be carrying it out during the week before, others the week after. Byrd, who prides himself on being the Senate's unofficial constitutional scholar, is expected to appear today at the National Archives when representatives from various federal departments and agencies meet to celebrate the launch of the "Constitution Initiative," according to Mike Beckman, acting deputy associate director for the Center for Leadership Capacity Services in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Gavin said Byrd was motivated to pursue the law by long-standing concerns about the state of civic education in the country, fueled by surveys showing that many Americans have a better understanding of the intricacies of "American Idol" than they do about the foundations of their government.

<snip>

Spokesmen for various federal agencies said yesterday that they were not sure how the law would be implemented. Educators have received guidance from the Department of Education about how to implement the law and have been directed to various Web sites with lessons and information about the Constitution from which they can craft programs. The law offers no money to help with the lessons. There seems, however, to be some confusion about exactly what the law requires. Frascella said he reads it as meaning every student in every school must participate. At American University, a private school that nevertheless receives federal funds (and where Byrd graduated from law school), Haig Mardirosian, associate dean of academic affairs, said AU will offer students the opportunity to attend a symposium at which First Amendment scholars and educators will speak, and it will be telecast to different locations on campus. In Fairfax, Alice Reilly, K-12 social studies coordinator for the county school system, said it will be up to individual educators to decide how to craft their lessons.

more.......

Note - Will be discussed on CSPAN Journal open phone lines at 7AM

Related WP article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/18/AR2005071801698.html?sub=AR

Constitutional Knowledge

Tuesday, July 19, 2005; Page A14

A recent survey of 600 students found that students have a greater knowledge of pop culture than they do the U.S. Constitution:

25.5% of respondents knew that Philadelphia is the city where the Constitution was written, compared with 75.2% who knew what city has the Zip code 90210.

35.5% knew the first three words of the Constitution, compared with 71.2% who knew that "www" are the first three letters of most Web site addresses.

1.8% knew that James Madison is considered the father of the Constitution, compared with 58.3% who knew that Bill Gates is the father of Microsoft.

41.2% knew the names of the three branches of government, compared with 59.2% who knew the names of the Three Stooges.

SOURCE: National Constitution Center

Edit: added related "Constitutional Knowledge" article.