On Thursday, Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill that establishes “Celebrate Freedom Week” during the week of Sept. 17 and requires schools to teach students about the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence in grades K-8 each year during that week. (Sept. 17, 1787, is the date the U.S. Constitution was adopted in Philadelphia.)It seems harmless enough, and perhaps even beneficial, but it’s kind of ironic that a bill with “freedom” in its name would issue an unfunded mandate for schools, as was noted by Rep. Don Hineman, R-Dighton. Delete-Merge UpWe also have to wonder why this bill, patterned after the original Celebrate Freedom Week bill in Texas, sounds so evangelestic when it intones, "The religious references in the writings of the founding fathers shall not be censored when presented as part of such instruction.”