Sunday, September 18, 2005

Constitution Day

Something I didn't know about Constitution Day--mandating teaching about the Constitution was the brainchild of a Democrat, one Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

Public Law 108-447 didn't start out as a bill to promote civic education. It is actually an appropriations bill.

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, added an amendment designating September 17 as Constitution Day, mandating the teaching of the Constitution in schools that receive federal funds, as well as federal agencies. Since September 17, the actual birthday of the Constitution, falls on a Saturday this year, schools will be observing the day on Friday, September 16.



From CNN.

Did your school do anything related to Constitution Day on Friday? Mine didn't. Don't think we have anything planned for Monday, either.

3 comments:

EdWonk said...

Our school did nothing and will do nothing. Not to get off on a tangent or anything, but knowing that Byrd was heavily involved in the Ku Klux Klan, do you think that he would even BE in the Senate if he had been Republican? He would've been ridden out of Washington on a rail...

Anonymous said...

irrespective of who might have brought forward this legislation, it strikes me as an objectively good idea. Any opportunity to teach the meaning and importance of the constitution seems like a fine thing to me...

Regards
Krill

Darren said...

Krill, perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I support the legislation. I think it's a great idea.

I find it amazing that a Democrat proposed it. So many teachers I've heard are criticizing the event as Republican faux-patriotic twaddle. It's great to see that the Democrat "elder statesman" made this happen.

Perhaps my colleagues on the left will realize, as their forebears did before the 60s, that you can be a Democrat *and* a patriotic American at the same time. The two ought not to be oxymoronic, any more than Republican Teacher should be.