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SALT LAKE CITY — Five years ago, Gillian Both had to take a civics test to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Her daughter, Rebecca, helped her study and they both passed, said Gillian's husband, Bill Both.
With Rebecca by his side, Bill Both urged lawmakers Monday to pass a bill that would require students to pass the same test before graduating high school.
“I find it troubling that an immigrant, within 20 or 30 minutes of studying, knows more about how our government works than people who have been through 12 years of (American) school,” he said.
“It’s just what we need to know,” said Rebecca Both, now 16 and a junior at Cyprus High School. “It’s basic knowledge.”
The committee later approved the bill 11-0, recommending it for further debate on the House floor.
Bill sponsor Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said SB60 stems from unsettling statistics of U.S. citizens' ignorance of their country’s government.
“I believe that for the future of our country, a basic knowledge of civics is critically important for our survival,” Stephenson said.
My question is, 'How the heck does that happen? How does it happen that 20-, 30-plus students went through 12 years of public education in a Utah state or American public school system and could not pass that test? That is a shame and a travesty.
–Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan
Jonathan Johnson, chairman of Overstock.com and the Promote Liberty PAC, and co-chairman of Utah's Civics Education Initiative, said less than 1 in 3 Americans can name the three branches of government.
Johnson said civics ignorance could also be contributing to the nation’s low voter turnout, with 18- to 25-year-olds participating the least in voting.
“If we have voters who are civically illiterate, our nation’s future is in peril,” Stephenson said.
The House committee unanimously supported the bill, though some lawmakers expressed concerns about legislators stepping on the toes of educators and their roles to establish required curriculum material.
“If we start down this path of forcing and mandating curriculum changes, we’ve got a problem,” said Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Salt Lake City.
Stephenson argued that the bill would not change Utah school curriculum, but instead require students to take the civics test independently. He said material for the test is available for free online, and students would be able to take the test an unlimited number of times until they pass.
“I don’t want this to be a part of the curriculum,” he said. “Instead, this will set a foundation so that every student who takes that U.S. history course hopefully will have already passed this test. … This should be separate from the classroom entirely, in my opinion.”
The bill would require students to answer 35 out of 50 questions correctly, though they would still need to be prepared to answer 100 possible test items.
Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan, said while she shares the concerns about legislators dictating curriculum as a “super school board,” the fact that so many people lack what should be basic knowledge of their own rights and government is absurd.
Coleman said when her daughter’s high school senior class took the citizenship test, her daughter was one of only three students who passed.
“My question is, ‘How the heck does that happen?’” Coleman said. “How does it happen that 20-, 30-plus students went through 12 years of public education in a Utah state or American public school system and could not pass that test? That is a shame and a travesty.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Brad Smith said the State School Board is collaborating with Stephenson to flesh out the bill’s fiscal note of roughly $421,000, which may be required for expenses including the need to develop alternate assessments for special education students. However, Smith said he supports the bill, considering the board’s $4 billion budget.
“I believe that is a modest and small investment with a very big return,” he said. "When performance is measured, performance improves."
Katie McKellar is a Dixie State University graduate with a bachelor of science in mass communication. Before interning at Deseret News, she reported and edited news content for Dixie Sun News, first as Photo Editor, then as Features Editor. Email: kmckellar@deseretnews.com.
