INDIANAPOLIS (AP)
-- State lawmakers have put the brakes on a measure that would have required
Indiana students to pass the U.S. citizenship test to earn a high school
diploma.
The proposed new
graduation requirement had been approved by the Senate, but the House
Education Committee eliminated it last week.
Under the panel's
changes to the legislation, schools would instead be directed to administer
the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services exam as part of a U.S.
government class students are already required to complete to get their
diploma.
Committee members
agreed that Indiana's schools need more civics education.
But The (Northwest
Indiana) Times reports they concluded that an additional student test,
particularly as a graduation requirement, is out of step with the General
Assembly's recent efforts to minimize the student testing burden.