A Democratic congresswoman on Tuesday celebrated American Education Week by tweeting out a quote erroneously attributed to President Thomas Jefferson.
Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D., Tex.) tweeted an image of Jefferson overlaid with the quote, "An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people."
Fletcher added, "It is #AmericanEducationWeek! Now, as much as at any time in our history, we know the critical role education plays in envisioning our future and ensuring the future of our democracy."
https://twitter.com/RepFletcher/status/1196839704022388737
The attribution of that quote to Jefferson is generally considered apocryphal. The official website of Monticello, Jefferson's home in Virginia, lists it as a spurious quotation that has not been identified in any of the Founding Father's writings. In other words, while the quotation may accurately reflect his belief in the importance of education, there is no evidence Jefferson said or wrote it.
Fletcher is a first-term congresswoman, elected to the House last year after flipping a long Republican-held district in west Houston.