Retired Justice’s Focus Now on Civic Education Project

Orlando, Fla.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor says that federal mandates are squeezing some subjects out of the curriculum, and she is working on a project that has a goal of restoring one of them: civics education.

“One of the unintended consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act is that our schools have less time to focus on other subjects,” Justice O’Connor told several thousand attendees here at the annual convention of the National School Boards Association .

Justice O’Connor, who turned 78 in March, stepped down from the high court in January 2006 after more than 24 years of service. She told participants about the many projects she has been working on in “retirement,” such as pushing for higher pay for judges, advocating the elimination of elected state judiciaries, and helping former Soviet republics...