State Senator Wants Students To Take The Pledge

Getting back to basics in our education, say some, involves reading, writing, and arithmetic … and the pledge of allegiance. Senator Ted House of St. Charles thinks students will be better citizens if they have to recite the pledge of allegiance at least once a week from the time they start school until they graduate from high school. He admits it’s hardly the weighty education issues the Legislature usually deals with. But he says recitation of the pledge is more than a symbolic expression of loyalty.He calls it a fundamental role of public schools to instill patriotism in children. He thinks most elementary schools do it; half of junior highs; and ten to 20 percent of high schools have the pledge at least once a week.