The Virginia House of Delegates in January will consider HB 1548, submitted by longtime Virginia Delegate Lee Ware (R-Powhatan), which would require Virginia students pass an exam featuring questions from the civics portion of the U.S. naturalization test.
HB 1548 would require the Virginia Board of Education to establish a new graduation requirement for students pass a test containing between 25 and 50 civics questions from the U.S. naturalization test with a score of at least 70 percent.
The legislation would require schools to offer the test to students between grades 9-12, and allow students to retake the test as many times as necessary to receive a passing grade.
Ware previously submitted legislation that would impose the new requirement as HB 13 in December 2023. It was eventually assigned to the House Education K-12 subcommittee, where it was ultimately tabled by lawmakers.
Delegates Mike Cherry (R-Colonial Heights) and Chad Green (R-Seaford) voted to advance the legislation beyond the subcommittee, but were outnumbered by the subcommittee’s four Democrats and Delegate Carrie Coyner (R-Chester) in a vote to table the legislation.
The legislation by Ware was stalled despite at least 18 states having enacted similar laws requiring questions from the naturalization test to promote civics education in schools.
States that already have such legislation include neighboring Tennessee, which was one of eight states to pass such legislation in 2015, as well as Kentucky and West Virginia, which passed such legislation in 2017.
More recently, Oklahoma in 2021 adopted legislation requiring students to complete a test featuring 100 questions from the naturalization test with a 60 percent average. Lawmakers argued the test requirement would help equip graduating students with the information necessary to be engaged in civic life.
A college professor in Arizona, where such a test has been required for graduation since 2015, told The New York Times Upfront in 2022 that requiring students complete naturalization tests is necessary to inform the next generation of its country’s history and political system.
Arizona State University (ASU) professor Elizabeth Evans stated to the outlet, “The misinformation and misunderstanding that are currently plaguing American society are rooted in a broad lack of civics knowledge. Leaving students and teachers without adequate support, instructional time, and guidance about civics can hinder their ability to confront fraught and controversial topics.”
Opponents of such legislation generally claim students are already presented with the information required in the test, and suggest they may resort to rote memorization of test questions and answers in order to obtain a high school degree.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
