JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska lawmakers are considering a bill that would require school districts to teach American constitutionalism, the latest of several state government measures across the U.S. aimed at civics education.
Alaska’s House Education Committee heard Friday from members of the public who supported the bill, including some educators.
Bob Bird, who teaches constitutional law to 12th-graders at Nikiski High School, said students need more constitutional instruction. “Only when you actually parse through the documents, and the Federalist and Anti-federalist Papers, can you really understand what’s going wrong” in the U.S., he said via teleconference.
Once students read the documents, Bird said, many understand “we are in a terrible constitutional mess.”
The Republican-led bill would require Alaska high school students to study the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, the Federalist Papers and the first state constitutions.