We're
not free to ignore the Constitution
Schools that get federal funds
must teach about document on Sept. 17
Wednesday, May 25, 2005 • BY BEN FELLER •
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The Constitution long has
ensured that Congress can't tell schools what to teach. But
that's no longer the case for at least one topic -- the
Constitution itself.
The Education Department outlined
yesterday how it plans to enforce a little-known provision
that Congress passed in 2004: Every school and college that
receives federal money must teach about the Constitution on
Sept. 17, the day the document was adopted in
1787.
Schools can determine what kind of
educational program they want, but they must hold one every
year on the now-named "Constitution Day and Citizenship
Day." And if Sept. 17 falls on a weekend or holiday, schools
must schedule a program immediately before or after that
date.
Historically, the federal government has
avoided dictating what or when anything must be taught
because those powers rest with the states under the 10th
Amendment. The Education Department's Web site even
underlines that point, saying matters such as the
development of curricula and the setting of course
requirements fall outside federal authority.
But Congress stepped in when it came to
the nation's foundational document, thanks to Sen. Robert
Byrd, the West Virginia Democrat who keeps a copy of the
Constitution in his pocket. Byrd inserted the Constitution
lesson mandate into a massive spending bill in 2004,
frustrated by what he called a huge ignorance on the part of
many Americans about history.
It so happened that the Education
Department's new guidelines emerged just as Byrd and the
Senate, engaged in a fight over judicial filibusters,
debated the Constitution's checks and balances.
Neither the department nor Congress has
required a specific curriculum or a particular
interpretation of the Constitution, Byrd said in an
interview Monday.
"I hope that schools will develop many
different, creative ways to enable students to learn about
one of our country's most important historic documents," he
said. "The Constitution protects their freedoms and will
impact all facets of their lives."
National surveys and test scores in
recent years have shown many students don't know much about
history. A study of high school attitudes this year revealed
most students take for granted the First Amendment to the
Constitution. More than one in three students said the First
Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees, such as
freedom of religion, speech and the press.
Yet some education groups say Congress
has no business dictating what schools and universities must
do on a certain day.
In middle school or high school, for
example, schools may have to interrupt lesson plans, said
Dan Fuller, director of federal programs for the National
School Boards Association.
"You may have to leap from the Civil War
or Vietnam to the Constitution," Fuller said. "Local schools
cover the Constitution, and they've been doing it for a long
time. We don't need the federal micromanagement. Congress
has been acting more like a school board."
In higher education, "It's the sort of
thing that raises the question, 'If this, what's next?'"
said Becky Timmons, senior director for government relations
at the American Council on Education, the leading lobbying
group for colleges and universities.
"If the justification is that the
Constitution is so central to our democracy, couldn't
somebody else come along and say, 'Well, I think the history
of American architecture is quite important,'" she said. "I
don't think most folks on campus perceive this to be an
enormous slippery slope, but it's never good when the
government tells them what to teach."
Timmons added, however, she was pleased
that the Education Department seemed to favor an honor
system of compliance rather than a "nightmarish" plan of
site visits or required documentation. She said colleges
would likely come up with many ways to satisfy the law, from
holding a campus assembly on the Constitution to
distributing information in every class.
Department spokeswoman Susan Aspey said
"there are enforcement options" that may apply but said it
is too early to speculate on what happens if schools don't
follow the law.
"We expect institutions to comply," Aspey
said. The department's guidelines direct schools to Web
sites for information, including the one run by the National
Archives.
The federal law championed by Byrd also
affects all federal agencies. They will have to train new
employees about the Constitution during orientation and
train all employees about the document every Sept. 17. The
Office of Personnel Management is expected to post
guidelines in those areas soon.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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