FRANKFORT, Ky. — Lawmakers in Frankfort are hoping to teach students the three branches of government, how government works and the importance of voting in elections. A bill expanding civic literacy passed a Senate committee unanimously Thursday and is one step closer to becoming law.

What You Need To Know

  • House Bill 535 would expand civics education in Kentucky schools 

  • Schools could offer a half-credit civics course or require students score a 70% on the current civics exam before graduation 

  • 40% of recent high school graduates can't name one of the three branches of government 

  • Only 15% of high school students participate in a government or civics course

According to a state civics assessment, 60% of recent graduates cannot name Kentucky’s two federal senators, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell. 40% of those same grads can’t name one of the three branches of government.

House Bill 535 hopes to improve Kentucky high schoolers’ understanding of the state and federal governments by requiring students to take a civics literacy course or score at least a 70% on a 100 question civics test before graduation. State Representative Robert Duvall, R-Bowling Green, said civic literacy is more important than ever because of the high amount of misinformation.

“Kentucky high school students currently participate in courses specific to government and civics at a rate of only 15%,” Duvall said.

Representative Duvall’s HB 535 states a half-credit civics course would teach the roles of local, state and national government, rights of citizenship and the U.S. and state constitutions, among other things.

“Civically literate individuals can make informed decisions when voting, plus they can engage in constructive dialogue with others who hold different opinions,” Duvall said.

Secretary of State Michael Adams, R-Kentucky and his office directed the state legislature to draft a bill after what he calls concerning test scores. 50% of high school graduates can’t name all three branches of government or the roles they play.

“You can look at politics today and realize we have a lot of work to do; politics is just getting more and more stupid, and I think that’s caused largely by the fact that we’re not teaching our kids the most basic things about our government,” Adams said.

Adams said the current bill is a start but would like to see a civics course become a mandatory requirement of all schools. Currently, students must pass a civics exam based on the U.S. citizenship test with a 60% to graduate.

“I think we need to have a higher standard for our students; they need to know more than say an immigrant from another country who can barely speak English coming here and just getting a foot in the door, we got to have a higher standard for our kids,” Adams said.

The original bill fully replaced the civics exam with the half credit course. Thursday, state Senators from both parties expressed wanting to see a course be mandator. State Senator Max Wise, R-Campbellsville said a constituent believed he was a federal legislator, and it happens all too often.

“He said, ‘Senator, have a safe flight back to D.C. and keep (Nancy) Pelosi in-line,’” Wise said. “My reply was I’ll do my best; so we’ve got a problem.”

Co-sponsor State Representative James Tipton, R-Taylorsville said the current bill gives local districts the option to choose after concerns brought up when the bill was read to a full House.

“As a compromise as we often do, we included the option for school districts to make that decision,” Tipton said.

The bill also requires the Kentucky Department of Education to compile a report of first-time successful completion rate and average number of times students take the test for successful completion.

The bill passed the Senate education committee. It will now be voted on by the full Senate.

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