The Ohio House has passed legislation, SB-165, making it a new requirement that all Ohio schools teach the “original texts” of “the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance, the United States Constitution and its amendments, with emphasis on the Bill of Rights, and the Ohio Constitution.” The bill calls for state’s testing system to be modified so that end of course examinations in history and government will be required and that 25% of these tests will focus on these original documents.
The bill passed 62 to 31. I can’t find the breakdown of how the vote divided by party, but it appears that the 31 nay votes were all Democratic. In Montgomery County, the three Republican representatives — Mike Henne, Terry Blair, Jim Butler — all voted “Yes.” The two Democratic representatives — Roland Winburn and Clayton Luckie — voted “No.”
Thanks to Eric for giving me the link to watching part of the debate on this bill in the Ohio House. This video clip starts with one of the bill’s sponsors, Representative John Adams, quoting from the Fordham study I wrote about in September: Schools Create “Dunderheads” — A Generation Of Students Ignorant Of U.S. History — Says Fordham
The debate shows that some Democrats opposed this bill because they charged that this bill amounts to an “unfunded mandate,” at a time when state funding to local schools is being diminished, one that further diminishes the authority of local school board control. Republican response is that there will be little additional cost required. And some Democrats opposed the bill because the emphasis of the bill is on the “original texts,” and ignores other important “historical texts” that would give a more complete context giving more in-depth understanding.
The bill requires the State Board of Education, no later than July 1, 2012, to incorporate into the state social studies standards for grades 4 through 12 academic content regarding these original texts and requires the State Board to revise the state model curriculum for social studies to reflect the additional academic content. It requires the State Board to revise the fifth and eighth grade social studies achievement assessments and the social studies portion of the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT).
To quality for high school graduation, students currently must earn one-half unit of American history and one-half unit of American government, including a study of the constitutions of the United States and Ohio. The bill requires, for students entering the ninth grade on or after July 1, 2012, that the one-half unit of American history and one- half unit of American government include the study of the historical documents mentioned above.
The bill requires each school district board of education, no later than July 1, 2013, to adopt an interim end-of-course examination in American history and government to be used until the State Board adopts the end-of-course examination described above. As with the examination adopted by the State Board, 25% of the interim examination must address the historical documents mentioned above.
I would like to see our state legislators take tests on “the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance, the United States Constitution and its amendments, with emphasis on the Bill of Rights, and the Ohio Constitution.”. I bet the results would be dismal.
I would like to see our state legislators take tests …
Here’s the Dispatch editorial on SB-165. It seems to concur with Kenny that some legislators might not do well on tests:
“Is Luckie unaware that the three-fifths compromise, and all it implies about American slavery, is in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 2)? Perhaps the need for better history education is more dire than anyone thought.”
In Representative Luckie’s defense, he commented on the threat posed by historical half-truths and “half-thinking individuals across state.”
The 3/5 test was in the Constitution but got repealed by the 14th Amendment, so it’s not really “in” it at this point. I suspect Rep. Luckie knows this. I’m sure it would be nice to be able to answer questions about the detailes of the Northwest Ordinance, (I’m not sure I can answer very many) but I’m not sure why high stakes testing on the subject should have a big impact on someone’s future. I suspect this is a vote about the general issue of high stakes testing, the unfunded mandates from “No Child Left Behind” and their effects on poorer communities, and perhaps a way to get more needed funding for inner city schools, which is being harmed by inadequate tax revenues due to foreclosures and unemployment.
Who gets to write the test for the legislators. It might include asking them whether the state of Ohio requires “a comprehensive and efficient system of education” (it does–and the current underfunding of multiple systems is therefore illegal, not that anyone is going to jail for breaking the law). They might also be asked if the word “welfare” is in the US Constitution (it is, in the preamble: our government is to provide for the general welfare–Ron Paul would certainly miss that one). And so forth.
Who gets to write the test for the legislators.
Voters, perhaps? Assuming a constitutionally adequate system of public schools, of course!
underfunding of multiple systems is therefore illegal
If voters lack a constitutionally adequate civics education, are you suggesting legislators somehow conspired to underfund civics first?