Bill Would Require Civics Courses in S.C. Schools

Can you name your representative to Congress? Give the title of our national anthem? Name who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

Those are among the 100 questions on a civics test given to those seeking citizenship that a group led by three former South Carolina governors wants to ask S.C. high school students to take.

The group announced Wednesday – on the 227th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution - they are seeking legislation to offer the test to state high school students and those studying general education development (GED).

Taking the test would not be mandatory under the legislation. And passage of the test would not be required. But those scoring 60 or more on the test would get credit to their final grade point average, organizers said.

According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, only about one-third of Americans can name the three branches of the United States government, organizers of the S.C. effort say. In Oklahoma and Arizona, studies of high school students showed less than a 4 percent passage rate on the Unites States Citizenship Civics test – the test all immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship must pass.

"It is absolutely critical that all South Carolina students have a sound knowledge of civics," said Dick Riley, a former governor and U.S. Secretary of Education from 1993-2001. "This is not a partisan issue. It is an American issue."

The civics test initiative also was announced in six other states: Arizona, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, South Dakota and Utah.

Full Story Here