THE FUSE

Many parents and teachers made a shocking discovery during the celebration of America’s 250th birthday. When cursive print versions of the Declaration of Independence flashed on the TV screen, on a magazine or newspaper cover, or were posted in the classroom, many middle schoolers couldn’t read it. When asked to read the preamble to the Declaration of Independence on a trip to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, one academically successful 11-year-old startled his parents when he said, “I can’t read that kind of writing. We never learned it in school.”