To the editor:

Constitution Day is on Sept. 17, so it is also time to determine what your federally-funded educational institution plans to do, to comply with Public Law 108-447, signed by President George W. Bush, on Dec. 8, 2004.

Within Section 111, of that law, we are informed that federal department or agency heads shall provide each new employee with information on the US Constitution and also that: “Each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on [or about] September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution.”

You’re correct in wondering what will be taught about the sacred document, for Thomas Jefferson in a letter to William Johnson (1823) reminded us: “On every question of construction carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.”

Federally-funded schools in Southwest Minnesota are invited to publicly respond and inform taxpayers how they are complying with this law, along with the source and the contents of such material, related to our U.S. Constitution. If no response is forthcoming from local schools, then the parents or guardians should inquire for themselves.

Leo R. Lindquist

Balaton