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DENVER — A bill will be voted on Thursday in the Senate Education Committee regarding whether high school seniors should be required to take a civics test before graduating.
“The purpose of education is to create citizens — from those citizens we have a government of the people, by the people and for the people,” said State Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs.
Hill is sponsoring the legislation and pointed out the state already requires students to take a civics course. The test would be modeled off the civics test taken by immigrants trying to become U.S. citizens.Possible questions would include:
- Who is the Speaker of the House?
- How many branches of government are there?
- What day was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
RELATED: Take a similar civics test yourself
During a hearing Wednesday, many spoke in opposition to the bill, calling it an unfunded mandate.
“People forget facts all the time,” said Michael Mazenko, an AP English teacher. “You do not diminish an entire student’s academic career to a single test.”