“We the people” will be learning more about the U.S. Constitution come September.

That’s when a little-known provision in the federal budget kicks in that requires students in schools and colleges that receive federal funds be taught about the U.S. Constitution.

While educators laud instruction about the historic document that formed the U.S. government, they’re not crazy about being told when to teach it.

“It was probably a good idea,” said Ann Bruemmer, director of arts and humanities for the Lawrence school district. “But it’s another instance where a good idea wasn’t well implemented.”

Embedded in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 is the requirement approved by Congress that all educational institutions receiving federal monies teach about the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, which is the day the document was signed in 1787.

If Sept. 17 falls on a weekend, as it does this year, the instruction must be held the week before or after the date.

U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, placed the mandate into federal law, saying he was concerned that many Americans were unfamiliar with the document that organized the country’s form of government and set out the rights of citizens.

“The United States will survive and flourish as long as we know our nation’s history and so long as we defend the Constitution and what it stands for,” said Byrd, who carries a copy of the Constitution in his pocket. “One will not protect what one does not value. And one cannot value what one does not understand.”

Karl Gehring/Journal-World illustration

The law requires no particular curriculum, leaving it up to local schools to determine how to present programs on the Constitution. And the government won’t be checking on schools to see if they are complying.

“I hope that schools will develop many different, creative ways to enable students to learn about one of our country’s most important historic documents,” Byrd said.

Educators say schools already are teaching students about the Constitution and that requiring it be taught on a specific day is unnecessary and may be counterproductive.

“This will make us pull things out of the context of the curriculum,” Bruemmer said. For example, fifth-graders may be learning about pre-colonial times, and then will have to fast-forward more than 100 years to learn about the Constitution.

She said it may have the effect of confusing students more than helping them understand the Constitution.

The district has no specific plan yet on how to approach what is now designated as “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day” but will have one before the school year starts, she said.

Same goes for Kansas University, which also must comply with the law because of the millions of dollars it receives in federal research funds and grants.

Karl Gehring/Journal-World illustration

Jeanette Johnson, an assistant to the provost, said a group is meeting at Kansas University to discuss ideas, and that the Dole Institute of Politics may get involved.

“I think this will be less problematic to us than some,” she said.

Rick Levy, a constitutional law professor at KU, said the importance of the Constitution couldn’t be overstated.

“It’s a blueprint of the government,” Levy said. “It lays out the ground rules for the operation of government.

“At times like these, when there is a lot of fear and danger in the world, the Constitution expresses the fundamental principles of a free, open and democratic society,” he said.

He said he hoped one lesson that could be learned from studying the Constitution was how the nation’s founders were able to compromise, often by using open-ended language that would be subject to interpretations later on.

“Compared to this day of political polarization, the founders were looking toward the advancement of the country and working to overcome their differences,” he said.