Your Tax Dollars At Work

A research study was done to determine students, teacher and administrators knowledge and opinion of the First Amendment.

The goal of this $1 million research study was to discover the familiarity and belief of students, teachers and administrators regarding the First Amendment. The study primarily attempted to determine if there are any links between the beliefs of students and the presence of student media programs and the viewpoints of teachers and administrators. During the course of its research, the Knight Foundation surveyed 100,000 students, 8,000 teachers and 500 administrators at 544 public and private schools across the nation.

The results were, in a sense, shocking, but not surprising - Ignorance reigns supreme.

If students are not educated regarding their rights, we cannot expect them to have a serious commitment to the freedoms our country is supposed to profess. America's educational system has failed to provide our youth with adequate knowledge about the core values of our country embodied in the First Amendment.

Despite the fact that First Amendment rights can be taught, it is clear from the survey that there is a clear failure on the part of public educators to do so.

Not a surprise at all, I believe the only people who think the educational system is working are members of the NEA. Great public schools for every child? Sweet dreams.