Arkansas House committee approves civics requirement for grads

The House Education Committee approved a bill Tuesday to require that high school students pass the civics portion of the U.S. naturalization test in order to graduate.

House Bill 1539, by Rep. Bruce Cozart, R-Hot Springs, was approved by the committee in a voice vote with little dissent. According to the bill, passing the test means answering at least 60 questions correctly on a 100-question test.

"It's some of the things that are really not getting taught today as much as they should and we believe that these are parts of our country, questions of our history, about our government, and it's things that the kids need to know, that are coming out of school, to be active, good citizens," Cozart said.

Questions range from how many amendments does the Constitution have (Answer: 27) to what are the first three words of the Constitution (Answer: "We the people").

Students would be allowed to take the test as many times as needed to pass. The test is available for free online, along with study materials.

It is part of a larger exam that immigrants are required to pass to become U.S. citizens. They must answer six of 10 questions correctly to pass, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The test issued to immigrants is not multiple choice.

Cozart said civics classes are already required in Arkansas schools.

Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, who spoke against the bill, said some of the questions posed do not have clear answers.

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"Are you sure that we can pass this test?" he said. "Many of the questions on here are vague. They are questions that I would submit that most of us cannot pass to the level of 60 degrees."

In response, Lucian Spataro, chief academic officer of the Arizona-based Joe Foss Institute, told the committee that civics lessons have taken a back seat to science, technology, engineering and math at schools.

"This is probably the No. 1 most vetted test in history," he said. "Immigrants from all around the world take this test. They know nothing about America, and they study, and 92 percent of them, on their first pass, take the test and pass it."

According to the institute, which advocates for laws around the country requiring students to take the naturalization test, 15 states already have such laws in place -- including Missouri, Tennessee and Louisiana.

A Section on 02/22/2017