Representative Dean Dohrman (r) [2016 file photo].
A bill, prefiled on Wednesday:
HB 1528
Requires students at public and private institutions of higher education to pass an examination on the provisions and principals of American civics as a condition of graduation
Sponsor: Dohrman, Dean (051)
Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2018
LR Number: 5087H.01I
Last Action: 12/06/2017 – Prefiled (H)
Bill String: HB 1528
[….]
Who’s going to pay for this new unfunded mandate?
The bill text, as prefiled:
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1528 [pdf]
99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE DOHRMAN. 5087H.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACTTo amend chapter 170, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the Missouri higher education civics achievement examination.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 170, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be 2 known as section 170.013, to read as follows:
170.013. 1. Any student pursuing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree from a public or private institution of higher education, except those attending private trade schools, shall successfully pass an examination on the provisions and principles of American civics with a score of seventy percent or greater as a condition of graduation from such institution. The examination shall be known as the “Missouri Higher Education Civics Achievement Examination”.
2. The examination required under this section shall consist of at least fifty questions, but shall not exceed one hundred questions, and shall be similar to the one hundred questions administered to applicants for United States citizenship by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services division of the Department of Homeland Security. Subject matter on the examination shall include the United States Constitution, the United States Bill of Rights, governmental institutions, historical manifestations of federalism, and history of constitutional interpretation and amendments.
3. The examination required under this section may be included within any other examination that is administered on the provisions and principles of the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Missouri, and in American history and American institutions, as required in subsection 3 of section 170.011.
4. Institutions of higher education may use online testing to comply with the provisions of this section.
I could be good with this if the members of the Missouri General Assembly had to take and pass the same test before they could be sworn in. But we should expect a higher passing score from them, right?
That’s actually not that different from an existing state requirement, that every person graduating from a MO college pass a course on the U.S. and MO constitutions. Every university already has such a course or an exam to pass that meets that requirement; I teach one at Truman. This is less vague, of course, but it wouldn’t require much to make the necessary changes.
The micromanagement is the difference. A course is a course, students are assessed in those courses. This bill mandates a specific format, a specific passing grade, but no venue, and does not make any provisions to pay for it.
So, if the requirement already exists that every person graduating from a Missouri college pass a course on the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions, what useful purpose does this new bill with its unfunded mandate serve?
Yes, the micromanagement is new; even the state Department of Higher Ed doesn’t set out that level of detail. Thinking about that aspect of the bill makes it very disturbing because it seems to fit what may be a new trend of of the state standardizing requirements across all of the public universities. About eight years ago the state required all public universities to accept courses transferred from community colleges, and right now the MDHE is developing a list of core curriculum that can be transferred seamlessly around the state.
The test itself would be unlikely to add noticeable costs since it can be administered in one of the existing classes. I’m guessing the nimno proposing the bill believes that MO’s colleges are somehow coddling students and so wants to score political points by “raising standards” (with the 70 percent floor) and inculcating “good citizenship.”
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