By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A bill is proposed in the Kansas Legislature to require high school students to pass a civics test to graduate.
"Kansas students are already required to pass a U.S. History and U.S. Government course that includes content on the U.S. Constitution in order to graduate from high school, said Leah Fliter with the Kansas Association of School Boards. "We feel that additional civics test is really somewhat redundant."
It's also important to note that curricular decisions in the state are generally left to another elected body, the State Board of Education. The House Education Committee chair, Republican Steve Huebert of Valley Center is behind the bill.
"The State Board of Education is scheduled to meet with Chairman Huebert, who is the sponsore of the bill," Fliter said. "He's going to meet with them next week and he has met with them before. This is really a passion project for him and he's met with them before and I think that they're certainly willing to help make sure that we are graduating people who are civically engaged and ready to participate in their society."
Like many policy discussions, it's not clear what the final disposition of the bill might be, if any, but the conversation is something that hopefully is a positive.
"Ultimately, the goal is to try to make sure that kids get the content," Fliter said. "I think most of us know that the further away you move from high school or the further away you move from that last test, the more distant that knowledge becomes, unless you put it into practice."
Getting students to understand that learning the workings of government is important is something all sides agree on, its the method that is in question at the moment.
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