Remember Sept. 17.

Soon, the date will stand out as a new unfunded requirement on every educational institution in the country that receives federal funds.

We’ve been through the $388 billion omnibus spending bill for 2005 several times. But the massive new law is so packed with outrages, we’re sure many have skipped attention.

Sanford Ungar, the president of Goucher College in Baltimore writing in the Washington Post, has found a funny little provision in the law that will affect almost every school in the country.

West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd inserted language into the law that requires educational institutions that get federal money to teach a class on the Constitution every Sept. 17. The Constitution was signed Sept. 17, 1787.

Byrd, as Ungar writes, has long advocated the study of the Constitution and has even worked to make the anniversary a holiday.

Surely, every student could benefit from knowing more about the Constitution, the foundation of our government and civil society. But the measure goes further. It actually mandates the day every year the program will be taught, and, according to Ungar, we can expect guidelines from the Department of Education on the curriculum.

Every student should have at least a basic understanding of the Constitution before graduating from high school. Mandating the day and manner of the lesson, however, goes far beyond the appropriate reach of Congress.

Good intentions have gone bad. The requirement should be removed.