Texas and several other states are now considering legislation that would require high school grads to know at least as much about U.S. founding documents as immigrants passing the citizenship test.
House Bill 1291 would require schools to teach the Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Federalist papers.
"Civics has kind of slipped out of the curriculum, not only in Texas, but nationwide," says State Board of Education member David Bradley, R-Beaumont. "That's disappointing. You look at college kids today, and they don't a clue of how government works."
"I would also like to see handwriting as a requirement too, because the original documents are in cursive," he says. "Think about it, we no longer teach or require handwriting, so how can someone read the original documents?"
The Texas bill is still pending in committee.