Asa Hutchinson: “recently in my Sunday newspaper, I saw a fascinating article in the USA Weekend section that was entitled ``What…”

“recently in my Sunday newspaper, I saw a fascinating article in the USA Weekend section that was entitled ``What Americans Agree On.'' USA Weekend took a poll over the July 4th holiday and found out that 95 percent of Americans agree that freedom must be tempered with personal responsibility. Ninety-five percent, Mr. Speaker. Now leaving aside the poll numbers, it is common sense that personal responsibility is vital to the American conception of freedom. But what if children come from homes in which blaming others for our shortcomings is a way of life? How will such children learn the basic American value of freedom in the context of personal responsibility? The answer is education. The problem is that too many schools are failing to teach what nearly all Americans agree on that is fundamental to our freedom. Personal responsibility, a concept shared by all Americans, is where education reformers should talk more about when thinking about educating our Nation's children.”