THE CONSTITUTION

3.2 Formal Amendment

Focus Your Thoughts . . .

If you could propose any amendment to the Constitution, what would it be??

Why?

Why Would We Need to Change the Constitution??

The Constitution has existed for over 200 years . . . but the United States, and its demographics, have changed a lot

When we ratified the Constitution, the United States was a small agricultural nation of fewer than four million people scattered over 1300 miles of land.

Today, nearly 300 million people live in the United States and the fifty states stretch across the continent and beyond

Why has the Constitution survived so long?? Because we can CHANGE it . . . and we have!

How Do We Change the Constitution?

Article V sets out two methods for the ratification of Constitutional amendments

Formal Amendment○ Four different methods

Amendment by some other informal means

What’s a ‘formal’ amendment?A formal amendment is an amendment which changes

or adds something that becomes part of the written language of the Constitution itself.

The Four Methods of Formal Amendment1. An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote in each house

of Congress and be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures; today, that number is 38 states.

Twenty-six of the twenty-seven amendments

2. An amendment may be proposed by Congress and then ratified by conventions, called for that purpose, in three-fourths of the States.

The remaining amendment

3. An amendment may be proposed by a national convention, called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the State legislatures; today, that number is 34 states. It must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures.

4. An amendment may be proposed by a national convention and ratified by conventions in three-fourths of the States.

Federalism and Popular Sovereignty

The formal amendment process emphasizes the federal character of the governmental systemProposal takes place at the national level and

ratification is a State-by-State matter

It also emphasizes popular sovereignty, because there must be a clear-cut majority and it is voted on by the representatives we chose for our state

Proposed Amendments

Nearly 15,000 joint resolutions have been proposed in Congress since 1789

Only thirty-three have been sent on to the States

Only twenty-seven of those thirty-three have been ratified

Congress sets deadlines for ratificationIf a proposed amendment has not been ratified within

that time frame, it dies

The Bill of Rights The first ten amendments came less than three

years after the Constitution became effective

They were proposed by the first session of the First Congress in 1789 and were ratified in 1791

The vast majority of these amendments arose out of the controversy surrounding the ratification of the Constitution itself

What Controversy?!

Thomas Jefferson, and many others, were hesitant to consent to the ratification of the Constitution because it did not mention anything about individual rights; the first ten amendments were then proposed, and ratified, as a compromise.

T.J.

A New House Resolution . . .

Democratic Senator Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. seeks to amend the Constitution to guarantee all citizens of the United States the right to a public education of “equal high quality”.

What is he talking about? Don’t we all have access to public education?

Yes . . . in theory; but consider this . . .

Examining the Public Education System

Fifty-five years later . . .

how much of an effect has Brown versus the Board of Education truly had?

The Monroe School

Brown v. Board

“We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place.

Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

Attempted to de-segregate schools through various programs (i.e., busing), this resulted in ‘white flight’ and, as a result, the expansion of ‘ghettos’

Attempted to de-segregate schools by re-drawing district linesfamilies simply moved to new districts

The Role of Tracking

What is ability tracking?

How do we measure it?

What does this say to kids about their self-worth?

Has it become a self-fulfilling prophecy?Sumner Academy in Kansas City

The Achievement Gap What are we talking about when we refer to the

achievement gap?

Who does this affect?Rural/urban vs. suburban schoolsRacial/ethnic groups

Why does this exist?FundingAbility to attract/retrain exceptional teachersStereotyping/Pre-conceived ideas about aptitude

No Child Left Behind

Shifting our education focus to . . .

Standards (Standardized testing, benchmarks, etc.)

Accountability (Teacher responsibility)

Standards Greater emphasis placed on standardized test

scoresScienceMathReading

At the expense of . . . ? (Music, art, s.s., etc.)

BenchmarksHave no national standards

Accountability

Greater emphasis on teacher/district responsibility

Failure to make ‘AYP’ Adequate Yearly Progress

Budget cuts, restricted/diminished funds

But will taking funds away from a school which is already struggling to provide the bare minimum help or hinder the cause?

Problems with No Child Left Behind

Which schools make ‘AYP’?

What happens to the schools that don’t?

If we further restrict the funds necessary to buy proper supplies and attract the best teachers and administrators in districts where funds are already limited, we only set these struggling schools, and thereby the students, further behind.

How are School Districts Funded?

1. The government

2. Property taxes based on the values of the homes owned in the district

How might this raise discrepancies in district resources and, thereby, the quality of education?

A Constitutional Amendment? Nationalize the public education system

Collect taxes and disperse them equally among districts

Amend the Constitution“Every American has the Constitutional right to

a free and equal public education.”

Why might some parents/districts fight this?- Johnson County, MO

In-Class Writing Assignment

Answer the following questions in essay format:

1. Can schools close the achievement gap between students from different ethnic and racial backgrounds? If so, how?

2. Do you think that a push for standards and accountability will lead to more motivated students in “at-risk” schools?

3. Do you support Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s proposed Constitutional amendment? Will it work? Why or why not.