Richard Dreyfuss has a good idea

I saw Dreyfuss on Maher's show a few weeks back, and he was very impressive in his advocacy for teaching civics in US schools. Here's someone else's take on it.

In Praise of Professor Dreyfuss
By William Fisher
t r u t h o u t | Columnist

Tuesday 16 January 2007

A ton of important news stories got spiked amidst the cacophonous white noise created by the Baker-Hamilton Report and the Bush "surge" plan and reaction thereto.

One of the more important was the effort by Richard Dreyfuss to reintroduce civics to our public schools. The movie legend has launched a personal campaign to urge educators to teach their young students about the US Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, and other government basics.

As a first step, the actor called together a group of school administrators, television producers, writers, and local leaders in Martha's Vineyard to discuss launching a civics pilot program at one of the island community's elementary schools. He told the media he's hopeful the effort will become a model for other schools across the country

Because we are not teaching civics, he said, "our children are not learning about current events and how the government works. They need to be informed on what it means to maintain the system while sharing political space."

Bravo, Professor Dreyfuss! Americans' ignorance of their own history and institutions is no longer a matter of debate. It has been verified in survey after survey.

...and of course there's more.