Radical Idea: Virginia H.S. Grads Should Know More About Their Country Than Foreigners Do
What do you say we start this morning with a little quiz? Pour yourself a cup of coffee and get out your number 2s!
What is the name of the national anthem:
The Star Spangled Banner
The Pledge of Allegiance
God Bless America
America the Beautiful
“1” you say? Well done!
How many U.S Senators are there?
435
50
27
100 If you guessed “4” you are really smart! (No you’re not, but you may be smarter than a high school kid, so there’s that.)
Let’s try one more: In what month do we vote for president?
May
April
November
December
Yep, “3” it is! Looks like someone was paying attention last month!
These incredibly easy questions are actual samples of those provided to non-citizens preparing to take the naturalization test. One delegate in the General Assembly - Republican Del. Lee Ware of Powhatan - is once again introducing a bill that would require all high school seniors to score at lest a 70 on the naturalization test in order to graduate.
That bill did not pass in the last session.
“If we don’t have students who know these things, we don’t have students who are prepared to take their part as members of our republic,” Ware said when speaking on a similar bill that failed during the 2024 session, according to a news report by WRIC.
That’s an understatement. If we have high school grads who don’t know these things they really should voluntarily refrain from voting and procreating.
Naturally, a Democrat opposes the measure. Delegate Rae Cousins (D-Richmond), voted against a similar bill in the last session, Cousins says Ware’s bill is unnecessary.
Cousins takes issue with the fact that Ware’s bill would require students to get 70% of at least 25 questions correct. In contrast, the U.S. citizenship test only requires those seeking naturalization to get six out of 10 questions correct.
Seriously?
Cousins wants to set the bar for American high school students - kids who grew up here in the cradle of presidents - at the same low level set for a foreigner who isn’t fluent in the language and who’s lived here for just a few years.
What is wrong with her? Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations.
I urge everyone to click this link https://americanhistory.si.edu/citizenship/test and take a sample test.
Can you believe this is all you need to know to become an American citizen and start voting?
Frankly, every Virginia student should be able to score 100 on this basic test. By the end of 8th grade.
By 12th grade, any missed question should result in a 13th year of high school.
