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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 8, 2023 01:39 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Joe Webster and Rep. Carol Hill-Evans |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Civic Education Graduation Requirement |
After a particularly tense election year, civic engagement has never been more important for our eligible young voters and soon-to-be voters to understand. We will introduce a bill that would require high school students to obtain a minimum score of 60 percent on a test identical to the civics portion of the naturalization test used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as a graduation requirement. It is our hope to increase students’ understanding of basic government and better prepare them to be engaged citizens in our democracy. As of this writing, only nine states and the District of Columbia require one year of U.S. government or civics education in schools. And, from 1972 to 2016, the proportion of young adults ages 18 to 24 who reported voting in presidential elections decreased from 50 to 39 percent. Engagement in civics education can help students become better informed about current events and thus more likely to participate in election campaigns, political activism, volunteering, community service, and more. Please join us in co-sponsoring this important legislation to ensure all students are being instilled with ample civic knowledge. |
Introduced as HB259