Update: Earlier today, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt signed this stupid bill into law.
The Tulsa World’s Randy Krehbiel – a bigger TLO fan than Barbara Hoberock – recently dropped a note about HB 2030. If passed and signed into law, it would require high school seniors to pass the same civics test that immigrants must pass before they become US citizens.
Via The Tulsa World:
Graduating high school would require passing the civics portion of the test given to candidates for naturalization under a bill approved by the House Common Education Committee.
Rep. Terry O'Donnell, R-Catoosa, said HB 2030 is intended to cure Oklahomans' lack of basic knowledge about government and history.
Several educators on the committee — all Democrats — said the bill's intent is good but is likely to have unintended consequences.
Geeze, look at those Democratic fun haters bringing up the “unintended consequences of a bill.” Don’t they know unintended consequences don't matter when the whole point of this bill is for the GOP to pander to themselves and their curmudgeonly base?
Here’s what O’Donnell said about the bill:
"I would say our basic students do not have a very good understanding of how our government works or they wouldn't be holding violent protests and claiming that's a First Amendment right because it clearly is not."
On the topic of “not have a very good understanding of how our government works,” maybe we should require all Oklahoma lawmakers to also have to pass the same test to stay in office? Based on all the unconstitutional laws they pass, I bet half of them would flunk it.
O'Donnell read several of the test's questions, including "How many stars are on the U.S. flag?" and "From what country did the U.S. win independence?"
"These are not taxing questions," he said.
Okay, a couple of things…
I’ve hosted probably 500 bar trivia nights in my life, and trust me – there’s no such thing as a “not taxing question.” We’ll ask a team to name the Beatle whose name rhymes with Bingo and they’ll write down Dingo. Hell, our previous governor couldn’t even name the three branches of government, and based on his travel schedule, our current governor doesn’t even know we have a government.
Also, if the questions aren't challenging or difficult, what’s the point of making students take the test? It just seems like a waste of time and resources that will make it harder for dumber students to graduate high school. That's not good. We need those kids to graduate and get their diplomas, otherwise, they may never grow up to become Oklahoma lawmakers.
