There they go again, those federal government big-footers, dictating what America's children will be indoctrinated with as a price of attending public school.
This time, they want every high school senior to be taught the U.S. Constitution.
Are they kidding?
They think senior year is soon enough for young Americans to study that founding document? Don't these elected representatives realize that by that time a goodly number of students have reached the age when they can vote, serve in the military, be tried as an adult and take on other responsibilities that go along with being 18?
During a pseudo-debate before a nearly empty House on Monday, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Tyler was praising House Resolution 686, which recommends that all high school seniors spend a week in September learning about the Constitution.
Gohmert lamented "a recent poll" (1998 actually) showing that more people know The Three Stooges than the three branches of government. Teenagers, he complained, are more likely to know the American Idol judges. Pop culture to Congress: High schoolers probably know The Black Eyed Peas and The Simpsons. But The Three Stooges are so last century. The average Idol viewer? Try 43 years old.
But here's the kicker: Gohmert and the other 206 co-sponsors of Florida Rep. Alan Grayson's bill might know less about what high schoolers are learning than what those students know about the Constitution.
According to Angela Whitaker, director of social studies for the Fort Worth school district, the U.S. Education Department announced in May 2005 that all local schools receiving federal funds must teach about the Constitution each Sept. 17, which is Constitution Day.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
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