August 28 , 2016

(Educators)Most colleges and universities required a diversity of classes in order to provide a "balanced" education, yet academia has largely excluded government and basic life skills from these requirements. I learned how to properly dissect a squid, but never learned how credit scores work or how to balance a checkbook. Had I not elected to take a Constitutional Law class with my major, I wouldn't have learned about the Constitution either.

In the 21st century, this is no longer acceptable. If colleges are going to require general education courses, they ought to require a course on the Constitution and civics.

One university's regents are considering such an idea. According to the Daily Camera, "a handful of University of Colorado regents hope to implement a civic literacy requirement to educate the college's students on the founding principles of the United States."

Why is a course on the Constitution important? In short, it is what has made America great -- enabling both social and economic progress for all Americans and the world since its passage in 1787.

Yes, for all Americans.

The reason and the need for this education couldn't be more clear than after the Charlottesville attack. In the ensuing debate over statues and monuments, we have seen some Republicans equate Confederates with the Founders and watched those on the far-Left target the Founders' monuments because some participated in slavery.

Both of these opinions are so devoid of the history of the Constitution and the Founders that I wish we could require all politicos to take a real history course.

Certainly, the accomplishments of the Founders outweigh any personal flaws, and when you add historical context, you can see that one of their accomplishments was enabling the abolition of slavery.

First, to their broader accomplishments.

Federalism, Separation of Powers, and the Bill of Rights gave more power to individuals and localities to control their own destinies, create and influence laws, and be protected from government abuse. While America has made grave errors, taken as a whole, our system of government has advanced individual liberty and has lifted more people out of poverty worldwide than any system of government in human history.