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Arizona High School Civics Bill Just A Start For Civics Education

Arizona high school students would need to correctly answer at least 60 of the 100 questions on the naturalization test offered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to graduate, under a bill being fast-tracked at the state legislature.

Committees in both chambers approved the proposal Thursday morning. It’s being debated by the full House and Senate Thursday afternoon.

Governor Doug Ducey talked up the issue in his State of the State address, telling lawmakers he’d sign the bill immediately. And, Paul Baumann said, civics education has been gaining momentum across the country.

"Knowledge of facts and figures and knowledge of how the system of government works is incredibly important for students to have," Baumann said. "But they need more than just that to be effective citizens."

Baumann is the Director of the National Center for Learning and Civic Engagement at the Education Commission of the States. He worries high schoolers that have to take the naturalization test to graduate will memorize the information and then forget it. He said that won’t necessarily lead to students becoming more engaged in their communities.

"This proposal is really exclusively focused on the knowledge, and it may or may not do anything to help develop students’ civic skills and their likelihood of wanting to participate and being able to participate," Baumann said.

But those behind the proposal say this is just a place to start civics education. Sam Stone is the executive director for the Civics Education Initiative, which is part of the Scottsdale-based Joe Foss Institute. He said the group started working on the proposal last May.

Arizona would be the first state to adopt it, although Stone expects at least 12 more to do so this year.

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Mark Brodie is a co-host of The Show, KJZZ’s locally produced news magazine. Since starting at KJZZ in 2002, Brodie has been a host, reporter and producer, including several years covering the Arizona Legislature, based at the Capitol.