Sons of the American Revolution Lobby DOE for Increased Emphasis on History!

March 29, 2004


Hon. James Horne
Commissioner of Education
325 West Gaines St., Suite 1514
Tallahassee, FL 32399
FAX: (850) 245-9667

RE: HB-0081 and related

Dear Commissioner Horne:

This letter is being written on behalf of The Florida Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (sometimes the SAR is called the President's Society as all US Presidents but four have been members since we were organized in the late 1800's; Governor Bush also is a member).

As you might expect, we are particularly interested in having our young people understand how our country was formed and, especially, the historic, civic and economic principles on which it is based. To that end, we are very supportive of having American History, Government and Economics taken into consideration as a basis for promotion in the schools and as a requirement for High School graduation.

Indeed, we were quite dismayed last year when appropriate bills (both House and Senate) easily cleared committee but were not brought to a vote. Moreover, we are concerned about some of the unfortunate interpretations currently being made about the relevant bills for this year (SB- 0426, SB-0364 and, especially, HB-0081). We are particularly disturbed to learn that they may not be acted upon this year either. Do you not agree that is most urgent that the cited Social Studies be taken as seriously as mathematics, reading, writing and (now) science? We appreciated the support given to this initiative by your Chancelor of K-12 Programs, Jim Warford (see attached letter), and hope that the department will continue to ensure that student’s performance in social studies is taken into the equation when they are being considered for promotion.

In any event, our members are generally monitoring this situation -- with a number of us from the Education Committee and the Board of Management actively doing so. We sincerely hope that these bills will be passed this session.

Thank you for your kind consideration of this communication and your support of good civic
education in the State of Florida.


Sincerely,


Harry Hollien, PhD
FLSSAR Regional Vice President and
Chair, Education Committee

Copies to:
Chancellor James Warford
Dr. Cornelia Orr
Kathy Mizereck
Senator Lee Constantine
Representative Bev Kilmer (she’s running for Congress)
Mr. Jack Bovee