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Know Your US Constitution? More States Look to Teach it


FILE - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner holds up a copy of the U.S. Constitution before reading a passage from the 14th Amendment at the Newseum in Washington, May 25, 2011.
FILE - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner holds up a copy of the U.S. Constitution before reading a passage from the 14th Amendment at the Newseum in Washington, May 25, 2011.

Should U.S. high school students know at least as much about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist papers as immigrants passing an American citizenship test?

In a growing number of states, having such a basic knowledge is now a high school graduation requirement.

Kentucky last week became the latest state to require the high school social studies curriculum to teach the same material used in the 100 civics questions on the naturalization test.

Other civics education boosters say such a mandate is too simplistic. They say it's better to have a full course delving into the founding U.S. documents.

Rhode Island and Minnesota are among the states where lawmakers are considering requiring a course on American government and civics. It's been a bipartisan cause.

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