Teaching the Constitution: How Should America Prepare Citizens for Self-Government?
Constitution Day Group Forum · Thursday, September 17, 2026
Federal law requires every institution that receives federal funds to teach the Constitution each September 17, but there is no national agreement on how. This Constitution Day group forum takes that unsettled question as its subject: how should America teach the Constitution and prepare young people for citizenship? Bringing together voices from education, law, history, and public service, panelists will offer opposing perspectives on whether civic education should center on foundational knowledge or on inquiry and student action, whether states should mandate civic literacy testing, and who decides what a good citizen needs to know. Grounding the discussion in the founding document itself, the panel will engage the constitutional provisions at the heart of American civic understanding—the Preamble and Article I's structure of government, the First Amendment's protections for speech and dissent, and Article V's amendment process—as the shared content every framework must reckon with. Moderated by Dr. Steve Masyada of the Lou Frey Institute, the forum turns Constitution Day's own federal mandate into the object of study because the Constitution endures only if each generation is taught to sustain it. Open to students, faculty, staff, and the public.
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