I spent more than 40 years as a teacher, and I remember September 11, 2001 like it was yesterday. Today, roughly a third of Americans weren’t even alive when those attacks happened.
Teaching 9/11 should not depend on the politics or personal preferences of an individual teacher. Every student should learn what happened, who we lost, the heroism we witnessed, who attacked us, and how that day changed our country.
If we expect young Americans to become informed citizens, we have to teach them their history. 9/11 belongs in the curriculum. Period.
Any teacher offended by the idea that students should be taught about 9/11 is proving exactly why it needs to be required. And if a legislator supports a law requiring every teacher to teach it, the problem is not the legislator.
We have forgotten far too much already. Just look at some of the people we elect, the things we now excuse, and the causes people take to the streets to defend, including those who openly celebrated the murder of Americans after 9/11.
Never forget means teaching the next generation exactly what happened.