Conservative Jim Kallinger takes the U.S. Constitution very seriously. When he served in the Florida House of Representatives he was distinguished as its constitutional expert.
In 2018, he helped lead the “Save My Constitution” coalition, a group of former Florida lawmakers working to abolish efforts to add progressive amendments to his state’s constitution.
Today he leads the National Association of Former State Legislators, a nonprofit focused on providing civics education to current legislators nationwide.
In a recent interview with The College Fix, Kallinger argued that teaching people — both students and lawmakers — about the importance of federalism and other key principles is crucial to preserving America’s freedoms.
He said he believes civic literacy education, grounded on the philosophies, ideals and values that the country’s founding fathers adhered to, is fundamental to maintaining what they started.
“Socialism and communism have failed while capitalism, free markets, and individualism have flourished and produced the best societies humanity has ever seen. Yet, if you don’t teach the average citizen, the voting person, on what the founders gave us, we’re going to lose what we have to socialism or communism and we’ll never get it back,” he told The Fix.
He said it’s a matter of “fighting for it.” But, he added, “to fight for it you got to know it. We want individuals to take the time to learn and study and really understand what it is.”
In Florida, civics education is blossoming.
