Dive Brief:

• The Idaho House Education Committee voted unanimously Monday to pursue a bill that would require public school students to pass a civics tests in order to graduate.
• The test questions, according to Sen. Jim Patrick (R-Twin Falls), would come from a standard federal government citizenship exam, and students would have to answer 60% correct to receive their diploma.
• Not all are for the exam: Idaho Education Association President Penni Cyr has spoken out, telling the Associated Press that this sort of testing hinders creativity and takes time away from other critical subjects.

Dive Insight:

This is not the first time these civics exams have been proposed. In September, three former South Carolina governors proposed a similar requirement with the "South Carolina Civics Education Initiative". While that civics exam was not a requisite to graduate, the South Carolina leaders suggested that students would get extra points added to their GPAs if they passed the test. 

This is a tough one, as a lack of civic understanding leads to apathy and a general divestment in society. The point of these tests is to curb this. However, as we already know, tests can also lead to apathy. When the general spirit of the times says students are being over-tested, adding another exam into the mix probably isn't going to have too many supporters. Figuring out a way to integrate civics into schools in an innovative way will probably have more fans, and better serve students—and their memories—in the long term.