WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Due to a new federal law, millions of copies of the Constitution are being distributed for lessons on the nation's founding document in U.S. schools.
Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., inserted the amendment in a spending bill last year -- requiring every U.S. school receiving federal funds to teach about the Constitution. Byrd, who keeps a copy of the Constitution in his back pocket, designated Sept. 17 -- the date the Constitution was signed in 1787 -- as a day for teaching about the document, the New York Times reported Saturday.
Readings and discussion are scheduled in thousands of schools and universities -- including even cosmetology schools -- either this week or next week because the date falls on a Saturday.
Some critics of the law say the it Congress act like a school board and opens the door to other curriculum requirements. Byrd, though, is in ecstasy.
"There's a crying need for every American, starting early in their lives, to get inspired by this document, to cherish this document," Byrd said. "I don't know of anything that I've done in my whole career that's given me more comfort."
