Posted on 01/02/2002 3:12:51 PM PST by rdf
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Gerry Poulos, Chairman, Ohio Conservative Coalition; Ph: (740) 439-3857; E-mail: gwpoulos@msn.com; Website: www.ohiocc.net The Ohio Conservative Coalition is proud to announce the introduction of the Founding of America Bill January 2nd, 2002 Cambridge Ohio - The Ohio Conservative Coalition calls for praise of Ohio House Diana M. Fessler of the 43rd District for the introduction today of the Founding of America Bill. This legislation, originally proposed by the Ohio Conservative Coalition, would require Ohio's public high schools to teach students the primary founding documents of the United States, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution (with special emphasis on the Bill of Rights), the Northwest Ordinance, and the Ohio Constitution, free from political bias, as a requirement for graduation. "For too long our schools, encouraged by those with a political axe to grind, have been slipping in educating our young in the true meaning and purposes of the this nation and its founding," stated Gerry Poulos, Chairman of the Ohio Conservative Coalition. He continued, "It seems it has become non-PC to mention the founders or their goals, dreams, and intentions in the founding of our nation in the spirit in which they undertook the task - a spirit of hope, faith and patriotism." The Founding of America Bill, now House Bill 461, would not only require these documents be taught, but it also insures that the material will not be "glossed" over in a minimalist attempt to comply with the requirement. The legislation would require a minimum of 1/6 unit (or 20 classroom hours) to be spent on the documents and also requires the use of other texts from the founding era. Among the texts to be used are the Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers to firmly establish the historical evidence regarding the creation, intent, and meaning of the founding documents and the provisions they contain. "We have no intention of simply stopping at the legislative end," stated Poulos, "It is our intention [the Ohio Conservative Coalition] to provide each and every public high school in Ohio, free of charge, with a complete reference set of all available documents pertaining to the founding of our nation, including letters written by the various founders, rough drafts of the founding documents, the journals of the Continental Congress, notes on debates, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, and many others." Poulos concluded, "We don't want any school to find itself lacking in information when it comes to the education of our young." The next step for the legislation would be committee assignment and hearing. The Bill will almost certainly find itself in the Ohio House Education Committee chaired by Representative Jamie Callender (70th District). "It is my most sincere hope that Rep. Callender sees it prudent to get the Bill heard in committee as soon as possible," Poulos commented. "He has spoken positively of it on radio programs in the past, and I hope he can see the need to get this through so we can start the repair of our education system at the beginning of classes next fall." Poulos added, "Any stalling in committee now would mean that it would be the class of 2004 before our kids start graduating with the information they need to function effectively as citizens. That's simply to not acceptable - all of Ohio will be watching this one closely." Other Ohio House members sponsoring the legislation include Chuck Blasdel (3rd District), John Boccieri (57th District), Tom Brinkman (37th District), Kenneth Carano (63th District), Kevin DeWine (76th District), Keith Faber (84th District), Tim Grendell (68th District), Jon Husted (41st District), Bob Latta (4th District), Tom Lendrum (63th District), Linda Reidelbach (26th District), Twula Roman (48th District), Tim Schaffer (6th District), Derrick Seaver (85th District), Shawn Webster (60th District), John Williamowski (1st District), and Ron Young (69th District). For more information on the Founding of America Bill, status reports, or the Ohio Conservative Coalition, please visit www.ohiocc.net.
There are links there to Heritage, We the People, Torch of Freedom, Claremont, and other groups networking in civic education reform.
Happy New Year to all,
Richard F.
Richard F.
I am glad to see that my State Rep. is one of the sponsors.
This bill should pass, IMHO.
Cheers,
Richard F.
Regards,
Gerry P.
Regards,
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