An education proposal to expand Indiana’s required “good citizenship” instruction to include high school completion, full-time employment and marriage passed the Senate on Thursday but drew opposition from Democrats.
Senate Bill 88, authored by Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, passed 39-9, with all nine no votes coming from Democrats. The bill now heads to the House.
The underlying bill also requires Indiana’s public colleges and universities to accept the Classic Learning Test, or CLT, to the same extent they accept the SAT or ACT for admissions purposes.
Byrne described the CLT as a “rigorous” alternative exam. The test emphasizes reading, writing and mathematical reasoning and asks students to analyze foundational texts from figures like Plato, Frederick Douglass and Isaac Newton.
But the most debated portion of the legislation expands the state’s definition of “good citizenship instruction,” which all public schools are already required to integrate into their curriculum.
Current law lists 13 principles schools must emphasize, including being honest and truthful; respecting authority, property and others’ beliefs; resolving conflicts without violence; and taking responsibility for family and community.
Byrne’s bill seeks to weave in three other concepts to mandated instruction: “the importance of obtaining at least a high school diploma and acquiring additional training in preparation for the workforce; securing full-time employment; and waiting until marriage to begin having children.”
Byrne described the proposed additions as an expansion of the “Success Sequence,” a three-pronged theory designed to help young adults avoid poverty and enter the middle class.
“The Success Sequence outlines three simple steps that researchers have consistently shown helps individuals to avoid poverty,” Byrne said.
A news release from his office pointed to the Institute for Family Studies, a policy think tank, which describes such instruction as “a proven formula to help young adults succeed in America.”
Byrne argued on the Senate floor that additional research from the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute show poverty outcomes based on whether individuals follow those steps.
“The data is striking,” he said. “More than half the people who complete none of these three steps live in poverty. Among those who complete all three, the numbers dropped to just 3% that would live in poverty.”
He added that those outcomes “hold across demographic lines,” including for people who grew up in low-income households or without both biological parents.
“At its core, Senate Bill 88 is about giving students more opportunity,” Byrne said. “Recognizing academic rigor and reinforcing pathways that lead to real, lasting success.”
Democrats, however, questioned whether adding the language to statute is necessary — or appropriate — given what schools are already required to teach.
Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, read aloud the existing list of 13 good-citizenship principles already in Indiana law.
“I was surprised to see the complete list that’s there already, and was curious how, based on what we’re hearing, magically, it’s going to change things,” Yoder told the chamber.
I just don’t think it’s necessary to begin instilling areas of judgment with students who are trying to do their very best in school and going home to their families that they love.Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington
She worried, too, whether the new language added substance beyond what schools currently teach.
“We are asking teachers, already, that they are responsible for teaching good citizenship in those 13 statements,” Yoder said. “Waiting until marriage to begin having children — and there sits children, who knows the makeup of their homes — and I just don’t know how that creates a positive, encouraging or confidence-building environment for students in that classroom.”
“I just don’t think it’s necessary to begin instilling areas of judgment with students who are trying to do their very best in school and going home to their families that they love,” she continued.
Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute, said the reading of the existing “good citizenship” list had the opposite effect on him.
“After hearing that list, how on earth could I not support and vote for Sen. Byrne’s bill?” he asked.
Byrne also expressed surprise at the opposition.
“I’m a little shocked, to be honest with you, that anybody would not vote for this,” he said. “This is scientific, proven, that if we teach that sequence, if you do those three things, you’re most likely not to be in poverty when you grow up — even if you started in poverty.”
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