Requiring U.S. citizenship test for high school graduation clears first hurdle

Senate Bill 132, sponsored by state Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, is aimed at remedying what Kruse sees as a widespread lack of basic government knowledge, based in part on late night talk show host interviews of people on the street who don't know simple facts about American government.

Kruse said existing Indiana requirements that students earn passing grades in two semesters of U.S. history and one semester of U.S. government to receive a high school diploma are insufficient if students aren't also mandated to take the citizenship test.

State Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, was among two committee Democrats and one Republican to oppose the civics test as a graduation requirement, though he said he has no problem with the citizenship test being used in Indiana classrooms as a teaching tool.

"I agree that civics and understanding government is extremely important," Melton said. "I'm struggling with making that a mandate on top of some of the other testing requirements that we have."

State Sen. Mark Stoops, D-Bloomington, believes it's more effective for students to learn American government principles in the context of the state's social studies standards, rather than simply memorizing a bunch of facts to pass a test and just as quickly forgetting them.

The civics test as a graduation requirement is just one of Kruse's proposed new mandates on Indiana schools.

Senate Bill 373, which is pending in the education committee, would require every public and charter school classroom and library to have prominently displayed a poster, at least 17 inches tall and 11 inches wide, containing the phrase "In God We Trust" and images of the U.S. and Indiana flags.

It also permits schools to teach creationism in biology courses as an explanation for the origin of life.