Free Pocket Constitution for Your Classroom: A Ready-Made Civics Lesson From This Week's News
Americans amended a state constitution this week, and most students never heard about it.
On Tuesday, Minnesota voters approved a change to Article XI, Section 8 of their state constitution. The amendment raises the share of the state's permanent school fund that flows to school districts from 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent, roughly $33 more per student, with changes taking effect July 1, 2027. Minneapolis and St. Paul schools each gain close to a million dollars a year. Duluth picks up about $280,000.
That is a civics lesson sitting on the curb, waiting to be picked up by a teacher. And if you want a free pocket constitution for your classroom to go with it, we will put one in your students' hands.
A free pocket constitution for your classroom, no cost and no catch
The 917 Society exists for one reason: every 8th grader in America should hold a copy of the Constitution in their own hands. Not a screenshot. Not a link. A book they can underline, dog-ear, and carry in a backpack.
Constitutions for 8th grade classrooms are always free. Always. There is no invoice, no shipping charge, no fine print. Teachers and administrators request them through our order form and we ship them.
We are not a reseller and we are not selling to schools. We are a nonprofit that puts pocket Constitutions into classrooms because a founding document that never gets opened cannot shape a citizen.
Why this week's news belongs in your lesson plan
Most students learn the Constitution as a museum piece: written in 1787, ratified in 1788, done. Then a headline proves otherwise, and they realize the document is being argued over right now, in their own state capital, in ways that decide whether their school gets new textbooks.
The Minnesota amendment is a clean teaching tool because it hits three ideas at once:
• State constitutions are separate documents. Students are often surprised to learn their state has its own constitution with its own amendment process. Minnesota's was amended this week. Yours may be on a ballot next year.
• The amendment process is real and slow. A proposal, a vote, a certification, an effective date nearly a year out. Students can trace every step and see why the founders made change possible but not easy.
• Funded obligations are constitutional questions. The permanent school fund exists because the state holds trust land and invests the revenue. When voters changed the percentage, they changed a promise written into the state's governing document.
Hand a student a pocket Constitution and a news article, and ask one question: where in a governing document would a change like this have to be written? They will find the answer themselves, and they will remember it.
How to request yours
Three steps, about two minutes:
1. Choose your grade level. Eighth grade is always free. Seventh grade civics and other grade levels can be requested, subject to availability, with a small donation requested. High schools and colleges can request copies at cost.
2. Submit the request through our order form with your school name, address, and the number of students.
3. Watch for a confirmation. Constitutions move in bulk, so request early in the year rather than the week before Constitution Day.
If you are a principal, department chair, or curriculum coordinator ordering for a whole building, order for the full 8th grade class at once. It ships better that way and nobody gets left out.
For everyone else: here is how you help
You do not have to teach to fund this. Every copy of Celebrating the Constitution and U.S. Citizenship purchased by a supporter, a grandparent, a business, or a history lover pays for Constitutions that go to 8th graders for free. That is the whole model. Supporters buy a book for themselves or as a gift, and a student who could not otherwise afford one gets a copy.
If you want to do more than buy a copy, you can donate directly or sponsor a school. A single classroom costs less than most people expect, and the return is a generation of citizens who have actually read the document they are governed by.
Let this week be the week
Minnesota students now attend schools funded by a constitutional amendment passed while they were in class. Some of them will learn about it in a civics lesson built on a primary source. Many will not.
You can decide which group your students fall into. Request your free 8th grade Constitutions, put them in their hands, and give them the actual text the next time the news starts talking about the Constitution.
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