Constitutional Education in High School should be required.

I have sent emails to candidates in two states [OK, and TX] recommending that the Constitution be a 1 semester required course for all 10-th or 11-th graders. I recommended that 15 weeks be spent on the Constitution, the Amendments, the Federalist papers and the founders and 3 weeks on case law. I believe that case law would have to be included to have a prayer of passing such a law. If case law were excluded, all progressives and many non-thinking centrists would simply line up against the proposed law and it would be defeated. Even the US Senate probes the support for "stare decisis" in judicial candidates and they always say they support it.

I am no lawyer but. I have a very strong belief in "original intent". Without elevating original intent to the paramount interpretation mechanism, a law written today would, by the following morning, have a different meaning [e.g. "to regulate commence ... among the several states" -- would today's interpretations of the "commerce clause" surprise our founders?] There would be no way for the legislature of today to communicate the meaning of a law tomorrow. We would not be a nation of laws, but a nation of feelings. Almost all agree that the "rule of law" is required to have a civil and peaceful society, yet, without "original intent" as the interpretive scheme, the "rule of law" becomes murky and subject to political interpretations. Eventually, the civil society will break down because the laws don't communicate anything to those who must obey them and those who must enforce them.

What would be useful would be to draft a letter, possibly here on this forum, and send it to legislators in all 50 states, DC, Guam, American Samoa and Puerto Rico. The goal would be, over time, to have all states and territories have a requirement for education about the Federal Constitution.

If such education had happened when we grew up, we wouldn't be creating groups like this. If such a movement has success, maybe the need for this group would vanish. I'm not sure in which grade such a course should be offered, nor am I smart enough to know that 15 weeks versus 3 is the right division [they reflect my best guess at what might pass as a law]. I do know that without universal Constitutional Education, we will drift farther and farther from what we all know to be right.

To make this proposal credible, well known educators and Constitutional scholars should publicly support it. I don't know any of those, but am willing to work on this project.

Idea and comments, anyone?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marc Crawley on February 9, 2010 at 9:51am

The easiest way to defraud an heir to any fortune of what is rightfully theirs is to never let them know it was theirs from the start. In other words, you can't take away freedoms from me that I never knew I had. This has been a gradual but progressive process. If the teaching and acknowledgment of God is removed and then in the same way the history of our nations beginnings is rewritten in a way to vilify it's founding fathers and minimalize the significance of their sacrifices then it just a matter of time. We're back to the boiling of frogs. Not to be fatalistic but, given the knowledge of who is currently in charge of the "govt" (public) education system and the time it would take to turn that system around, I believe one on one education is necessary. We need to work within our own personal scopes of influence. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that Ed's idea isn't needed, I'm only saying that given the time it will take to take charge of and turn this beast around will require some time and I'm not sure that that is a resource we have much of any more.

Permalink Reply by Land Shark aka Bob E on February 9, 2010 at 10:15am

Marc, here is your optimistic pill.

I would bet you anything that two years ago, most conservatives had little idea what was in the Constitution. Most of their day was taken up by work, or pleasure, in the case of retirees

Today, the workers still have to work hard, but the retirees mostly have abandoned the life of leisure to attend to this. I am one of them. And I am among many, many. After this last convention, our website gained over 2,000 all by itself! In one week!. And we are not giving the young ones the option to not learn anymore, because they no longer have it, if they want to stay free, relatively speaking.

I guarantee we, in the last year, have made enough progress to say the corner may have possibly been turned in our favor. I, along with you and millions of others are working harder than we ever have. We are doing something we never had to do. We trusted our government. We shouldn't have. Now we know. They are now on defense as well as they should be. We are not stopping. And hopefully, setting in place, exactly what you are describing, the foundation for future Constitutional generations.

Permalink Reply by Marc Crawley on February 9, 2010 at 10:29am

Thanks Bobby,
I don't mean to come across as a total fatalist, but given the ability and willingness of the current "majority" in DC to stall and delay everything but the 2nd coming of Christ, I just believe it is imperative to begin that process right where we are, every day and every time possible. As time allows, we push on and do more including returning true civics to the public schools. My thanks to you and the multitudes of retired Americans that keep these fires stoked.
Blessings!

Permalink Reply by Publius Huldah on February 9, 2010 at 10:51am

I must disagree with my dear Friend Ed. I would rather hire a fox to guard my chickens, than trust the government schools to teach the Constitution. The Progressives have taken over public education. Samuel L. Blumenfeld wrote of this in, Is Public Education Necessary? He describes the war, which started in the early 1800s, between the Progressives and the Traditionalists. The Progressives saw education as a tool for social and cultural reform to be achieved through the remaking of human nature. The Traditionalists saw education as the development of the individual's intellectual skills plus moral instruction in Biblical ideals. The reason Americans know nothing and can't think is that the Progressives won. These people control the Colleges of Education! The teachers whom they produce have been indoctrinated with progressive principles. Few of them can think - so they just uncritically regurgitate to their students whatever they are told. Bill Ayers is a professor at the College of Education at Columbia Univ.!

Ayn Rand wrote Atlas Shrugged in the mid-1950's: She wrote, correctly, that our educational system is designed "to stunt a child's brain, to convince him that reason is impotent". The enemy wants a dumbed down America - and the enemy controls the public schools. And our law schools are the reason lawyers don't know the Constitution!

Our constitutional illiteracy is not a problem which "government" can solve. Only The People can solve it: This class, the Hillsdale Seminar, a few other websites; and then when you "graduate" from this class, YOU must teach those within your spheres of influence. Those of you with connections to private schools must try to get a constitution friendly course instituted into the private schools. A conservative school teacher in this class agreed to teach me how to write for young people - with the idea of working up a curriculum for young people. We can take over school boards by running for seats on the board, but what do we do about the teachers who don't have a clue but think they know?

Permalink Reply by Ed Bradford on February 9, 2010 at 11:30am

I said the Lord's prayer and the pledge of allegiance when I went to school. My high school had liberals and conservatives
teaching. In the Tea Party meetings I have attended I've met conservative teachers.

I think the mindset of teachers today is roughly like the mindset of Tea Party folks 2 years ago. Both groups of
people have logic and common sense inside them. Tea Party folks have awakened and started using their common sense. As I said, I may be naive, but I believe there are very few committed progressives in the country. Polls seem to bear this out. True progressives must say there is no God, that the progressive knows better than I what is good for me and that man is perfectible. Few people are so arrogant and that is why I think they can be converted. Progressivism is very shallow in substance. Teachers today, like Tea Party folks a year ago, must awaken from their ideological rut.

The simplest experiments in socialism happened in Jamestown and Plymouth starting in 1609 and 1620 respectively. Both failed miserably. While those two communities don't prove socialism can never work, they overhang any "social" experiment with a reliable prediction as to outcome, unless significant and convincing new "features" are added. Human nature has not "evolved" much in 500 years as far as I can see.

SUMMARY: Public schools are indeed, littered with liberals. I believe few of them are committed liberals; the remainder are susceptible to using the common sense hiding in their own minds. Teaching the original intent of the Constitution, the founders, the Federalist Papers and the Amendments would be an improvement over what we have today. I believe this should be done at the state level and should be done despite the current view of public education. We agree to disagree.

PS: I thought the Hillsdale Seminar was excellent. They should make it available on line in recorded form. In fact, the proposed course I mention here could be designed with their assistance and made available online -- thereby circumventing all of our objections. In other words, rather than argue here, we should proceed and create such a course.

Permalink Reply by Phil on February 15, 2010 at 9:24am

Or the old United States? I'll take it.

Permalink Reply by Joan Sperry on February 10, 2010 at 1:07am

This is a great idea.

Permalink Reply by Publius Huldah on February 14, 2010 at 10:53pm

We must learn the Constitution before we propose amendments. Our Constitution does not need amending - except to repeal some of the previous amendments. What the Constitution "needs" is to be read and studied by The People.

Permalink Reply by Phil on February 15, 2010 at 9:16am

Yes,back to the original intent. All of us should study the constitution inside and out so we can reference it with liquidity as our argument. That's my latest method. It works. Especially when you explain the twisted view of the document liberals have.I know I always win because they start calling me names!

Permalink Reply by jackie menconi on February 17, 2010 at 12:34pm

I just heard on Megan Kelly's show on
Fox That California has a new law that gives parents the right to fire teachers and close schools if the passing rate of children in any school falls below 50%. pretty interesting would love to that in Illinois

Permalink Reply by Phil on February 17, 2010 at 2:39pm

That's the next thing we have to take back. They really did a number on the last two generations. Don't let them wreck a 3rd one.

Permalink Reply by Don Harrison on February 18, 2010 at 2:42am

I love the idea, but many obstacles need faced. OK, yes the Dept of Ed needs to be abolished. As a whole NCLB has not worked. Down it should go. Edycation is a state right. However, the DofE and the elites of the Eduactional arena drive curriculum in all states. They develop their own "Best Practices" and target points. Most states adopt national curriculum from NSTA and etc as their own (NSTA-National Science Teachers Association). These National Associations are closely tied to the NEA (National Educators Association). Hmmm. So then State curriculum then must be followed by districts because of state testing standards yet in most states local school bodies are to adopt their own. The system is set so that a local body must adopt the states curriculum. The state is put in a situation to adopt national curriculum. So who control curriculum? It is not local or state bodies for sure. The entire educational system is flawed. I do agree with accountability, but that should be done locally.
So, in order to add a Constitution class to the curriculum is a wonderful idea. It needs to be taken locally. Those Boards of Education with the moxy to adopt it will. There are some that are willing, but probably only as an elective for now. Like many other areas, this should be a grassroots project. Get by in from districts, then once established in many districts a state may consider adding it to their curriculum as a possible required course.
Now in regards to teachers unions. States which do not have unions have Associations. These act the very same as a union. No difference except there is no collective bargaining agreements. Their lobbies and lawyers work the very same as with unions.