Congressional education

Senator Robert Byrd, U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Education Nina Shokraii Rees, and the rest of Congress need to do their homework. Deputy Under Secretary Rees -- the coordinator of the No Child Left Behind Act, recently ordered that all "educational institutions receiving Federal funding ... [have] to hold an educational program pertaining to the United States Constitution on September 17 of each year" in response to a bill proposed by Byrd and approved by Congress. This day, renamed Constitution and Citizenship Day, is the anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution. Starting this fall, every elementary school, high school and college in the United States receiving federal funding--Penn included--will have to comply with the new regulations, or risk "enforcement options" according to the Department of Education. If only the Sen. Byrd and Ms. Rees had read the Department of Education web site before deciding to "federally micro-manage" education, which is what the National School Boards Association terms the new bill. On a page entitled "What the Department of Education Does Not Do," the Department of Education cites the Constitution, specifically the 10th amendment, as reason for not exercising "any direction, supervision or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration or personnel of any educational institution, school or school system." Since education is not mentioned in the Constitution, the states have complete control over curricula. But because of this new law, the federal government will now be regulating an area outside of their specific Constitutional boundaries - to teach about the Constitution. You can cut the irony here with a quill pen. First, we must ask ourselves if it is it necessary to create loopholes in the Constitution to make September 17 a mandatory teaching day. Or is it simply another tactic for the federal government to "micro-manage" education in this country? If those involved had done any basic research, they would have found that "most Americans understand more about the Constitution than many give them credit for" according to a study conducted by Public Agenda for the National Constitution Center here in Philadelphia. The majority realize "that rights come with limits and responsibilities" and "voice a respect and understanding for the legal process." Only 17% of those surveyed indicated that their knowledge of the Constitution was "hazy and vague." Becky Timmons, the leader of lobbying groups for colleges and universities, thinks the direction these federal regulations are taking is hazy and vague. "It's the sort of thing that raises the question, 'If this, what's next?" she said. "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?'" No child should be left behind when learning about the U.S. government. But no U.S. government has the right to declare that children must learn about the U.S. government on a certain day. The Bush Administration claims that the No Child Left Behind Act, gives "more freedom to states and communities" to decide what to do with federal education funds. Not if in return for receiving federal funds, schools must teach certain subjects as mandated by the administration. Ironically, many students are spending less time on subjects like civics in their classes because of No Child Left Behind, which does not emphasize civics proficiency. Because schools are spending so much time teaching to the test, instead of providing students with adequate preparation in a variety of subjects, civics education is getting lost in the shuffle. So what do we the people do? For starters, we should demand that school districts and universities should decide when and how to implement United States history--not the government. No curriculum should be mandated at the federal level when the Department of Education specifically declares on its Web site that this type of management would be outside of the constitutional boundaries. It would be more beneficial to school districts and universities if they took the money earmarked for Constitution and Citizenship Day and put it into developing better civics curricula year-round instead of focusing on one day to explain the Constitution, which may not be in the correct context for students early in September. Moreover, it is important to continue learning about civics year-round, not just on a day marked for the occasion. This is certainly an amendment Congress should consider.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.