FEDERAL ACADEMIC STANDARDS

BECAUSE twentieth century Americans are often unaware of the importance which the founding fathers originally attached to religion as the strength of our society, government, and educational system, and

BECAUSE the founding fathers often admonished the colonists to recognize and respect morality or people of moral integrity, and

BECAUSE in 1787 Congress passed the famous Northwest Ordinance in which they emphasized the need to provide a comprehensive analysis and study of religion as an integral part of a comprehensive education, and

BECAUSE Article 3 of the Northwest Ordinance states: “Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged,” and

BECAUSE Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Bill for Establishing Elementary Schools in Virginia that religious tenets taught in public schools be those which were universally accepted by all faiths and fundamental in their premises, and

BECAUSE the standards established by Jefferson sets the guidelines for a comprehensive, impartial, comparative study of religions, and

BECAUSE the current Departments of Education have failed in their mission to establish limited federal academic standards, and

BECAUSE The Northwest Ordinance includes the requirement that standard morality and knowledge be included as an integral part of educational standards, and

BECAUSE the Northwest Ordinance provided sufficient academic guidelines until the purpose of education began to shift to a focus on social and political desires,

THEREFORE Article 3 of The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 be adopted by the federal government as a foundation for national educational standards.