Happy belated Law Day!
We had hoped to get this post written and published Thursday, but the Fates and our day jobs conspired against us. So please excuse the two day delay in our post about what President Dwight D. Eisenhower first proclaimed as a day for celebrating “our moral and civic obligation…to preserve and strengthen that great heritage” of liberty, justice, and equality under law which was this country’s Founders’ legacy to us.
Sadly, Law Day is virtually ignored by the vast majority of the American public. Something as stupid and meaningless as Groundhog Day gets 10 or 20 times the attention. And Cinco de Mayo and Bastille Day generate far more celebrations.
Saludo and salut.
Polls show that two-thirds of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court justice, and only one-third can name the three branches of government. 51% of Americans can’t name even one of their U.S. senators, and only 25% can name both.
And that’s just the adults!
Worse yet, the study of “civics” has been dumbed down and relegated to just a small piece of what commonly is called “Social Studies” in the curriculum of most of our elementary schools. That’s what we understand is the case at D-64, which takes approximately one-third of our property tax dollars but does not appear to have made any meaningful commitment to improving civic education.
“Less than one-third of eighth graders can identify the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence, and it’s right there in the name,” laments retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor. “The more I read and the more I listen, the more apparent it is that our society suffers from an alarming degree of public ignorance.”
The dumbing down of our children’s civic education should be a national scandal.
But probably only if TMZ picks up on it after catching Selena leaving a Beverly Hills nightclub.
Unfortunately, it seems that no small number of the civics-challenged reside right here in Park Ridge, judging from the comments submitted to this blog, comments published in our local papers, and comments made at public meetings of our various local governmental bodies.
For example, as recently as a month ago, a middle-aged resident attending one of our local governing body meetings wondered aloud why Maine Twp. High School District 207 couldn’t just give some of its reported surplus cash to the City so that the City could give it to the Library. The idea of D-207 and the City being two separate and distinct governmental entities and taxing bodies that could not legally pool their money or share their funding seemed totally lost on this resident.
How totally clueless is that? Seriously? How can a middle-aged Park Ridge resident not know that City government and its taxing authority are not the same as, or even part of, D-207 government and its taxing authority?
Another mystery to many (even those who have lived here for decades) is the fact that the City of Park Ridge, the Park Ridge Park District, and Park Ridge–Niles School District 64, don’t share the exact same boundaries and don’t contain the exact same constituencies. So some Park Ridge taxpayers aren’t Park Ridge Park District taxpayers, some D-64 taxpayers aren’t Park Ridge taxpayers, and (we suspect) some Park Ridge Park District taxpayers aren’t D-64 taxpayers.
Mayor Dave Schmidt and our aldermen regularly hear from residents complaining about the water temperature of Hinkley Pool, or D-64’s bus service, or parking at Maine South football games – despite the City having no authority over any of those matters.
Fortunately, Justice O’Connor is leading a crusade through icivics.org, a website for educators and students that uses games, lesson plans and activities to engage young and old alike in learning about our form of government and citizenship.
“We have to ensure that our citizens are well informed and prepared to face tough challenges,” she said. “If there is a single child not learning about civics or not being exposed to what they must do as citizens, then all our lives are poorer for that.”
Spot-on, Sandy.
But we can’t deal with it right now – it’s Cinco de Mayo weekend.
Care for a margarita?
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