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Kristen Waggoner urges constitutional literacy, parental choice and protections for religious schools
Summary
At a commission meeting on the First Amendment, Kristen Waggoner urged stronger constitutional‑literacy education, recommended federal support, and called for expanded parental choice and legal protections for religious schools, citing ongoing court cases and the role of families.
Kristen Waggoner told a commission meeting that strengthening constitutional literacy and expanding parental choice are essential to sustain respect for the First Amendment.
"We cannot have a robust civil society without limited government," Waggoner said, arguing that education about constitutional limits and human dignity should be a policy priority. She suggested the commission could recommend that the federal government do more to support constitutional literacy programs that teach the limits of power and respect for others.
Responding to a question from Allyson Ho about how to "equip and empower the next generation to cherish the First Amendment," Waggoner emphasized three moves: improved civic education, greater parental authority over classroom content, and legal protections for religious education. "That work starts, of course, with constitutional literacy," she said, and added that the commission could highlight those needs in a report to the President.
Waggoner cited litigation and school‑choice disputes to illustrate the stakes. She referenced the Drummond case involving Saint Isidore and "Becket’s Mahmoud case," saying such cases show the need to expand options so parents can choose public, religious or charter schools that match their values and expectations. She explicitly supported opt‑in and opt‑out mechanisms and protections allowing religious schools autonomy in how they operate.
Waggoner also warned that some issues now in lower courts are likely to return to the U.S. Supreme Court in different forms, and urged more state and local officials to pass laws that clarify rights and prepare cases that could reach the high court. "All of these laws that go to the US Supreme Court, they come from state and local levels," she said.
She closed by stressing the informal, family‑level work of civic formation: "This happens at our kitchen tables. ... If we raise [children] in our faith and ... to understand the Constitution, then the work we’re doing now is going to endure," Waggoner said.
The commission did not vote on any policy in the segment recorded; Waggoner framed the recommendations as possible items the commission could include in a future report.
