One final test before graduating: Bill would make Ky. high school students pass citizenship test
Published 12:00 pm Friday, March 4, 2016
- One final test before graduating: Bill would make Ky. high school students pass citizenship test
FRANKFORT — Before a high school graduate in Kentucky could earn his or her diploma, a proposed new bill would require each student to pass one final test — the citizenship test.
Senate Bill 192, which is sponsored by Sen. Jared Carpenter, R-Berea, would require all public high school students to pass a civics test to receive a regular diploma. Students would have to correctly answer at least 60 of the 100 questions to pass. Students could take the test as many times as necessary to pass.
“I think our educators do a great job teaching,” Carpenter told The Richmond, Kentucky Register Thursday. “However, this bill would force our students to pay closer attention to what is happening in this country and realize how important these things are. Right now, they forget about it.”
Carpenter said he has had little push back from educational groups he’s spoken with, and most, including teachers and students, have been supportive of the effort.
The test would feature questions drawn from the citizenship test administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to persons seeking to become naturalized citizens.
“I’m not trying to create a new standard, but I’m hoping to create emphasis on knowing what is going on in our country and how things work,” Carpenter said. “I go home and lot of people ask me how things are going in Washington. They don’t realize the state government has a Senate like the federal government.”
Carpenter said the idea for the bill came from a group pushing for a renewed emphasis on civics. He got on board in part after seeing countless TV clips and videos of young adults unable to answer questions such as who is the current vice president — Joe Biden — or even who was our first president — George Washington.
“Too many students in high school and college have so little understanding of those things, but they have a vast knowledge of pop culture,” Carpenter said. “They can tell who the Kardashians are or who the stars of Jersey Shore are, but they don’t know the vice president. My son who is in fifth grade knows more about civics than they do.
“This would bill would be a great opportunity to stress civics and to stress who we are as a country and how we got here.”
The bill has cleared the Senate Education Committee, and Carpenter said the bill should move to the Senate floor for debate next week.
If the bill passes, the testing requirement would take effect on Jan. 1, 2017. The Kentucky Department of Education would have to create the tests. Special accommodations would be required for the blind and hearing impaired.
Jonathan Greene is the editor of The Richmond, Kentucky Register. Follow him on Twitter @jgreeneRR.