Lawmaker: Require Arizona Students To Pass Citizenship Test

Weasel Zippers

Schools would have to change the curriculum.

Via Arizona Republic

All high-school students in Arizona would be required to pass the same 100-question civics test required for U.S. citizenship to graduate under a proposal from a state lawmaker.

State Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park, announced the plan Wednesday that he said would ensure that all Arizona high-school graduates have a basic understanding of civics.

Montenegro is working with other state legislators and officials from the Civics Education Initiative, part of the Civics Proficiency Institute, to craft legislation for the requirement.

Every single student in Arizona and across the United States of America should have basic knowledge and understanding of American government. Civics is just common sense. So, this Civics Education Initiative … is a common-sense approach at achieving that goal,” Montenegrosaid at a press conference with supporters of the proposal,including Rep. John Allen, R-Scottsdale, and Jay Lawrence, representative-elect for District 23.

Lucian Spataro, president and CEO of the Joe Foss Institute, another civics organization affiliated with the initiative, cited a study from the Pew Research Center that found that only about a third of Americans can name the three branches of government.

Other studies, he said, found that less than a quarter of high-school students in Arizona and Oklahoma passed the U.S. Citizenship Civics Test.

The initiative is intended to bring a renewed focus on civics in education, said Sam Stone, national campaign manager for the Civics Education Initiative.

“This a first step to increasing civics education in schools, renewing the importance and focus on civics,” he said.

Keep reading

What IF Citizens Really Understood the U.S. Constitution?

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Fewer than half of American eighth graders knew the purpose of the Bill of Rights on the most recent national civics examination, and only one in 10 demonstrated acceptable knowledge of the checks and balances among the legislative, executive and judicial branches, according to test results released on Wednesday.