Teaching Citizenship Is Not Slavery

By Rob Teir and Suzanne Goldsmith

Even as Republicans in Congress are touting the virtues of local control over government programs, a libertarian legal group in Washington is asking federal courts around the country to usurp control over high school curricula. The Institute for Justice has filed suit against elected school officials in Chapel Hill, N.C., claiming that a community-service requirement for high school graduation violates students' constitutional rights.

The argument? Community-service learning (50 hours of it over four years) is the modern-day equivalent of slavery. Moreover, the lawyers claim, asking a child to serve the community in a placement he selects--anything from a recycling project to the public library--violates the right of parents to control the moral education of their children.

The Institute for Justice's client plaintiffs, two Chapel Hill High School students, Aric Herndon and John Reinhard 3rd, say they have nothing against community service. In fact, Aric Herndon, an Eagle Scout, volunteered his time to build benches for a school nature trail. But he doesn't think his school should...