In honor of the recent Constitution Day, Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, filed SB1097 creating a pilot program for Constitution courses to be offered to high school students in Oklahoma.

“The Constitution of the United States is one of the greatest governing documents ever created in the history of mankind,” Dahm said. “It’s great that we honor it every September 17th, but we must educate future generations on it as well.”

The bill ensures that whatever courses are offered will be provided at no cost to the State Department of Education, participating school districts, and participating charter schools.

“In consultation with business leaders and people across this state, I’ve heard a desire to make sure our future generations have a greater understanding of the Constitution,” Dahm said.  “We’ve worked to find prominent courses that will be offered at no cost to the people of Oklahoma.”

The legislation calls for the courses to require instruction on several provisions, including an introduction to the Constitution, its meaning and history, the progressive rejection of the Founding Fathers, the rise of bureaucratic despotism, civil rights, and the Federalist Papers.

“Our rights protected in the Constitution are constantly under attack, especially now more than ever,” Dahm said. “The main reason for that is a lack of understating or even a gross misunderstanding of our Constitution, especially from elected officials who should know better because they swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.”

The bill sets up a pilot program for a four year period to offer the classes to all eleventh-graders.

“As we look to prepare future generations to be informed and engaged citizens, that must start with knowledge of our governing document,” Dahm said. “One of the greatest lessons is by learning from history and understanding our foundational principles, and with this bill our students will be able to learn those principles at no cost to the State of Oklahoma.”