Capitol Notebook: Iowa students must pass citizenship test to graduate high school under bill headed to Gov. Reynolds

DES MOINES — A bill requiring Iowa students to pass the same test given to those who apply for U.S. citizenship in order to graduate from high school is headed to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk to be signed into law.

House lawmakers passed Senate File 369, 60-33, with five Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition.

The bill would require high schoolers to take and pass the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization civics test. Students in ninth through 12th grade would need to answer at least 60 questions correctly on the most recent version of the 100-question, multiple choice exam to graduate from high school or receive a high school equivalency diploma. Students who fail would be able to retake the exam as many times as they need.

Reynolds proposed the requirement in January during her Condition of the State address to state lawmakers.

Supporters of the legislation argue it would help increase public understanding of civics and how the U.S. government works.

“Senate File 369 is a bill that should be thought of as a bill to be an encouragement to knowledge, not as a barrier to graduation,” said Rep. Robert Henderson, a Republican from Sioux City and the bill’s floor manager.

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Critics say a required standardized test is not an effective way to ensure students have a good understanding of U.S. civics.

“I am fully supportive of idea that we need to increase the understanding of government and the role of citizens in government. I do not believe that requiring a test for graduation provides the outcomes that we are looking for,” said Rep. Chad Ingels, a Republican from Randalia. “Students will prepare for the test, memorize the questions, answer the questions, get 60 percent and move on.”

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Republicans rejected amendments offered by House Democrats that would create guidelines for a civics service project in lieu of having a student take the test and that would require state lawmakers to take the test and have their scores published.

“I do not believe that our students future should rest upon a single test. We know from No Child Left Behind that when you teach a standardized test, time and resources energy get taken away from other subjects,” said Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, a Democrat from Hiawatha.

Sixteen states, including Wisconsin and Missouri, currently have the exam as a requirement to graduate from high school.

House amends prenatal education requirement

House Republican lawmakers amended a bill that would require Iowa schools to include specific instruction and visual materials on pregnancy and fetal development, including a video, along with health curriculum for students in grades five through 12.

Senate File 175, as amended, would require schools to show:

Republicans amended the bill to prohibit schools from using “any book, article, outline, handout, video or other educational material” produced or provided by an entity that does any of the following:

Rep. Austin Baeth, a Democrat from Des Moines, said that would prohibit schools from using information from research institutions like the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins and the University of Iowa “that have some sort of association with abortions that are at least performed to protect the life of the mother.”

“So what is left to teach our children if we are not going to be relying on information that comes from research institutions?” Baeth asked.

Rep. Helena Hayes, the bill’s floor manager and a Republican from New Sharon, said the bill is careful to define research-based material as “complete and unbiased, supported by valid scientific research recognized as medically accurate and objective by leading professional organizations and agencies with relevant expertise in the field, also when appropriate, published in peer reviewed journals.”

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Previous, similar versions of the bill would have required schools use a specific video, titled “Baby Olivia” and produced by an anti-abortion right organization, in schools’ human growth and development instruction. Medical and reproductive rights groups say the video provides scientifically inaccurate information.

While the amended bill does not require a specific video, Democrats said no other known video encompasses all the descriptions laid out in the bill.

Republicans rejected amendment from Democrats that would allow a parent or guardian — who currently can opt a child out of human growth and development classes — the ability to specifically opt out a child from seeing the video, and require video and animation be scientifically accurate. Democrats said Republicans were putting “politics over science.”

“Our kids deserve facts, not propaganda,” said Rep. Heather Matson, an Ankeny Democrat.

Hayes said the bill “brings humanity into the classroom.”

“It gives face and form to the unseen, allowing young minds to understand that the womb is not a void, but a vibrant space where life unfolds with astonishing complexity,” she said.

The bill now heads back to the Senate for final approval.

Proposed constitutional amendment advances

A proposal to amend Iowa’s Constitution by clarifying that children can testify in court remotely, rather than being made to face their alleged abuser, moved a key step closer to Iowa voters with approval from state lawmakers.

For years in Iowa, children in certain court cases were allowed to testify from a remote location, in front of a judge. But the Iowa Supreme Court last year ruled that the constitutional right for an individual to face his or her accuser in court is violated when a child gives witness testimony from outside the courtroom.

As a result, Iowa is now the only state in the country that does not permit any form of remote testimony from children.

While all parties agree on the need to address the issue, lawmakers and advocates have disagreed over how. Some believe it can be addressed by amending state law. Others, including Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, believe because of the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling, only an amendment to the Iowa Constitution will suffice.

Bird proposed the constitutional amendment, which was approved Thursday by the Iowa House with a bipartisan, 87-6 vote. The proposal previously passed the Senate by a unanimous, 47-0 vote.

The proposal, Senate Joint Resolution 9, will return to state lawmakers no earlier than the 2027 session. To amend the Iowa Constitution, a proposal must be approved by two consecutive meetings of the Iowa General Assembly — the two-year, two-session meetings of the Iowa Legislature — then be approved by voters in a general election.

Bird’s proposed constitutional amendment must be approved by lawmakers again in either 2027 or 2028 and then could be put to Iowa voters in the 2028 election.

The proposal would amend the Iowa Constitution to say that state law can provide exceptions to a witness’s right to confront an accuser in order to protect children under the age of 18 or individuals with a mental illness or intellectual or developmental disability.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau