Let’s celebrate Constitution Day
Constitution Day is Sept. 17. Why, you may ask, am I writing about this now? Because there is a bill that just passed the Illinois House of Representatives and is sitting in the Illinois Senate that will place Constitution Day on the list of officially recognized holidays in the state of Illinois in school code. The bill needs to pass the Senate and move to the desk of the governor to be signed into law.
Why should you care? Because in 2004 our federal government mandated that all states that receive federal dollars must recognize Constitution Day in order to be eligible for future funding. The law also could require repayment of past funds if the state fails to recognize the day.
The U.S. Constitution is the law of the land. It is a figuratively living and breathing document that is able to change as the world changes and still remain the guiding light for our representative republic form of democracy. The flexibility that our Constitution’s creators built into the ever-changing work of law is what makes it so great. When those who see the need to change a law, they have the ability to do so in a peaceful manner. Sure it is complex and time consuming to change a law, but most worthwhile objectives are not easily achieved.
The value of the U.S. Constitution should be celebrated by all Americans and should be taught to the students in our classrooms. The federal government believes this too. That is why they require students to be reminded of all of the laws the Constitution guarantees each Sept. 17. This is in addition to the required tests that are taken in the eighth and 11th grades.
I was made aware of this law by a constituent who asked to come to my office and discuss how Madison County schools were abiding by the federal law. I honestly could not answer the gentleman, but I told him I would ask each district superintendent and get back to him with what I found out. I found various degrees of observance throughout Madison County. Some schools had students read the Constitution. Some districts talked about the document in their civics classes. Others devoted time to creating art projects. Some were not aware that the law existed. This led me to look deeper into the issue.
I soon found out that the State of Illinois did not have Constitution Day listed as an officially recognized holiday. I was shocked and called State Representative Amy Elik. She helped me to research the issue further and agreed to sponsor a bill in the 103rd session of the Illinois General Assembly. She was successful in passing HB1273 through the House on March 23, which adds Constitution Day to the list of officially recognized holidays in the Illinois School Code. She secured Illinois Senator Erica Harriss to sponsor the bill in the Senate.
In the Senate, the bill is starting to gain traction. Rep. Elik, Sen. Harriss and I are working hard to boost support for the bill that passed the House with unanimous, bipartisan support.
We recently added Sen. Christopher Belt and Sen. Doris Turner as chief co-sponsors in that chamber. We are asking your help in contacting your state senators to ask for the support in passing HB1273 in the Senate. It is a great piece of legislation that will help our students learn about the U.S. Constitution and bring the state of Illinois into compliance with federal law. I thank you in advance for your assistance and will work to make sure that more is done in our schools to better understand our nation’s constitution.
