HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 570 FILED ON: 1/25/2021
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Shawn Dooley
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to civic test requirements for graduation.
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PETITION OF:
NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: DATE ADDED:
Shawn Dooley 9th Norfolk 1/25/2021
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 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 570 FILED ON: 1/25/2021
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No.
[Pin Slip]
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 434 OF 2019-2020.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)
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An Act relative to civic test requirements for graduation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 2 of Chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in chapter 296 of
2 the Acts of 2018, is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following:-
3 “(e) All public high schools shall provide a civics test for all of their students prior to
4 graduation. Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, in order to graduate from high school or
5 obtain a general equivalency diploma, a pupil must correctly answer at least 60 of the 100
6 questions listed on a civics test that is identical to the civics portion of the naturalization test used
7 by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. A pupil who does not obtain a
8 passing score on the test that is identical to the civics portion of the naturalization test may retake
9 the test until the pupil obtains a passing score. Pupils who receive special education shall not be
10 required to achieve passing scores on the civics test in order to graduate from high school.
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11 (f) The department of elementary and secondary education shall establish rules and
12 regulations for monitoring adherence subsection (e).
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text: