Contributed by Stuart Thompson
Senator Ben Stevens is now guiding HB 72, (a bill requiring successful civics testing to graduate high school, through the legislature). All readers should lend support to it through their own legislators. Why? In answer, below is my telephonic testimony given on April 8th to the Senate Community & Regional Affairs Committee about SB 72.
“The testing of graduating high school students to verify effective grasp of civics is critical to posterity.
1. It is constitutionally justified. Alaska Constitution Article 7 reaches to the implied duty of Alaskan government to enable citizens to ensure our form of government works. There are Article 1 Sections 1&2 that become useless nonsense without each citizen knowing that the entire success of Alaska government is dependent on his knowing how to honor his civic obligations; and how to enforce the People’s Will on and through government. Alaska’s Constitution states it is dedicated (the exact word) to civic rights and corresponding civic obligations of each citizen.
2. It is philosophically justified. Using Abraham Lincoln’s useful phrase, we have government OF, FOR, and BY the people. The methods of monarchies, aristocracies, socialism, and dictatorships all perform government OF and FOR the People---but not BY. It’s easily proven that modern Alaskan adults are most educated and practiced in the methods of monarchies. The family is a natural monarchy (first observed by Aristotle) and most businesses are the same. Accordingly, some people often show they think that citizenship is just electing somebody who uses desired prejudices and shows willingness to get them government hand-outs; and only complaining when that official doesn’t deliver.
3. It is strategically justified. America has suffered from long-term decline in quality literacy and numeracy. What was the expected 5th grade literacy quality in the 1800’s is now classed as complex literacy today. See US Dept. of Education’s assessment of US adult literacy 20 years ago---reporting only 13% of Americans are capable of complex literacy. It is better demonstrated in records of US military induction failures from inability of tested enlistees to read at a 4th grade level. World War I saw 2% functional illiteracy; WWII saw 4%; the Korean War saw 19%; and the Vietnam War saw 27%. You also see evidence of mediocre literacy in legislative body dependence on lobbyists, and public dependence on either left or right leaning media explanations of reality. Therefore, under current conditions, if graduating students aren’t made to demonstrate citizen practices to the same quality as they can demonstrate riding a bike or operating computers and phones, illiteracy will provoke escalating government perversion and eventual government collapse.”
Stuart Thompson
lookitover@att.net