Civics Education Petition For Redress of Violation of New York State Education Law, Section 801

Of immediate concern to the citizens of the State of New York

Open for review and signing

awaiting signatures

WE THE FREE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, by and through the unalienable, individual Rights guaranteed by the Constitution for the State of New York, and the Constitution for the United States of America, hereby Petition the New York State Board of Regents , the New York State Commissioner of Education and the Governor of the State of New York for Redress of our Grievances, to honor their Oaths or Affirmations of office and their constitutional obligations by responding to this Petition within thirty (30) days, providing a formal acknowledgement of its receipt and refuting its statement of facts or demonstrating a good faith effort to comply with its remedial instructions.

WHEREAS, by the terms and conditions of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution for the State of New York and Constitution for the United States of America, We the People of New York have expressly established a republican form of government, empowering it to act in only certain ways, while purposely and patently restricting and prohibiting it from acting in certain other ways, and;

WHEREAS, We the People are entitled, by Right, to a constitutional government, republican in form and substance, by which Departments, Agencies and Boards within the Executive Branch must comply with the Laws of the State as adopted by the State Legislature and signed by the Governor.

WHEREAS, We the People are entitled, by Right, to a constitutionally valid system of education, designed to prepare each citizen to meet the obligations of citizenship in America and preserve and protect the blessings of America’s constitutional form of governance for future generations, and;

WHEREAS, Section 801 of the New York State Education Law reads, in relevant part, with emphasis added by the undersigned:

§ 801. Courses of instruction in patriotism and citizenship and in certain historic documents.

• §801.2 The regents shall prescribe courses of instruction in the history, meaning, significance and effect of the provisions of the constitution of the United States, the amendments thereto, the declaration of independence, the constitution of the state of New York and the amendments thereto, to be maintained and followed in all of the schools of the state. The boards of education and trustees of the several cities and school districts of the state shall require instruction to be given in such courses, by the teachers employed in the schools therein. All pupils attending such schools, in the eighth and higher grades, shall attend upon such instruction.

• §801.3 The regents shall determine the subjects to be included in such courses of instruction in patriotism, citizenship, and human rights issues … and in the history, meaning, significance and effect of the provisions of the constitution of the United States, the amendments thereto, the declaration of independence, the constitution of the state of New York and the amendments thereto, and the period of instruction in each of the grades in such subjects. They shall adopt rules providing for attendance upon such instruction and for such other matters as are required for carrying into effect the objects and purposes of this section. The commissioner shall be responsible for the enforcement of such section and shall cause to be inspected and supervise the instruction to be given in such subjects. The commissioner may, in his discretion, cause all or a portion of the public school money to be apportioned to a district or city to be withheld for failure of the school authorities of such district or city to provide instruction in such courses and to compel attendance upon such instruction, as herein prescribed, and for a non-compliance with the rules of the regents adopted as herein provided, and;

WHEREAS, Section 802 of the New York State Education Law reads, in relevant part, with emphasis added by the undersigned:

§802. Instruction relating to the flag; holidays.

• §802.1 It shall be the duty of the commissioner to prepare, for the use of the public schools of the state, a program providing for a salute to the flag and a daily pledge of allegiance to the flag, and instruction in its correct use and display which shall include, as a minimum, specific instruction regarding respect for the flag of the United States of America, its display and use as provided by federal statute and regulation and such other patriotic exercises as may be deemed by him to be expedient, under such regulations and instructions as may best meet the varied requirements of the different grades in such schools. However, such instruction shall include, as a minimum, the provisions of sections one hundred seventy through one hundred seventy-seven of title thirty-six of the United States Code.

WHEREAS, HOWEVER, New York State’s learning standard for Civics, Citizenship and Government reads:

• “Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental systems of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.”

WHEREAS, said learning standard for Civics, Citizenship and Government fails to comply with Section 801.2 and 801.3 of the New York State Education Law; it fails to mention the New York State Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and is otherwise of uncertain, indefinite, or unclear character or meaning, exhibiting no relationship to the specific requirements of Sections 801.2 and 801.3, and;

WHEREAS, consequently, rising generation after generation have not been anchored to America’s fundamental principles including republicanism, self-government, individual liberty, freedom and equal justice for all; nor are they familiar with the specific prohibitions and mandates the People have placed on the Government through the terms of their State and Federal Constitutions, and;

WHEREAS, the current system of public education in New York State violates not only the rule of law, it violates the principle of the “frequent recurrence to fundamental principles” that emerges from our founding documents: “We have the greatest opportunity the world has ever seen, as long as we remain honest – Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature,”1 and;

WHEREAS, Article I of the Constitution for the State of New York, and the First and Ninth Amendments to the federal Bill of Rights, guarantee to every New York citizen the unalienable Right to hold the government in the State accountable to the Rule of Law, and;

WHEREAS, as expressed in the British Commentaries at 23, and by the Supreme Court in in Marbury v. Madison (1803), every Right has a Remedy and any Right that is not enforceable is not a Right.

[1] Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington (1787).

WE THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK do hereby seek the following Remedies and Instruct the Board of Regents to respond to this First Amendment Petition for Redress as follows:

Within thirty (30) days following the service of this Petition for Redress, the Board of Regents shall amend the learning standard for Civics, Citizenship and Government to comply with Section 801.2 and 801.3 of the State Education Law, to read as follows:

“Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of: the history, meaning, significance and effect of the provisions of the constitution of the United States, the amendments thereto, the declaration of independence, the constitution of the state of New York and the amendments thereto; patriotism, citizenship, and human rights issues; and respect for the flag of the United States of America, its display and use as provided by sections one hundred seventy through one hundred seventy-seven of title thirty-six of the United States Code.”

In addition, the instruction described in Sections 801.2, 801.3 and 802.1 of the New York State Education Law shall be provided statewide, in separate courses, in grades eight and above, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. Furthermore, a twelfth grade Civics course on the constitutional fundamentals of our government shall replace the current course entitled “Participation in Government” which fails to ground students in the fundamentals of our republic. The Civics course shall culminate in a State examination to insure proper instruction in civics.

Should the Board of Regents fail to respond to this First Amendment Petition for Redress of Grievances with a meaningful response – that is, by complying with the remedy embodied in the paragraphs above, or by refuting the factual evidence presented herein, it will have added credence to the beliefs of a growing number of New York State citizens that the Government is not the Government We the People put in place as it does not abide by the rule of law, that Liberty is losing ground as Government gains ground and that it is un-American to continue funding a Government that violates the rule of law and refuses to respond to the People’s proper Petitions for Redress of its violations.