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Utah high school students might soon have something in common with immigrants hoping to become U.S. citizens: having to pass a test proving their knowledge of America.

Two Utah lawmakers said Wednesday they plan to sponsor a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would require all Utah high school students to pass the U.S. citizenship test before they can graduate.

"As we push for science, technology, engineering and math and a lot of other important topics, unfortunately, civics education has kind of fallen through the cracks," said Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, who plans to sponsor the bill with Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper.

"We need to incentivize and put a requirement there that would require students to have a very basic knowledge."

The Utah legislation is part of a nationwide movement to boost civics education sponsored by the Joe Foss Initiative, a Scottsdale, Ariz. based nonprofit that promotes teaching about public service and patriotism. Similar legislation will be introduced in six other states.

The goal is for all 50 states to pass such legislation by Sept. 17, 2017 — the 230th anniversary of the Constitution.

The test's 100 questions range from basic knowledge to slightly more difficult. One question asks the name of the current U.S. president. Another asks how many amendments the U.S. Constitution has.

Students would have to answer 60 percent of the test's questions correctly to get a diploma. Each school would decide how to administer the test and students would likely be allowed to take it as many times as necessary to pass. The questions and answers all are available online.

Eliason said he doesn't expect such a requirement to cost the state any additional money because the tests and study materials have already been developed.

Jonathan Johnson, co-chairman of the Utah Civics Education Initiative and Overstock.com's board chairman, said the bill aims to address a "very troubling problem facing democracy today."

He noted that recent studies of high school students in Oklahoma and Arizona showed that less than 4 percent could pass the civics test.

"When citizens don't understand how basic American civics work, how government works or who we are as a nation, they're not likely to vote and they're not likely to take part in policy decisions that affect our cities, our states and our country today," Johnson said.

Several Utah parents said Wednesday they also liked the idea.

"I think that would be terrific," said Jennifer Barton, who has a son at Pioneer High School for the Performing Arts, a charter school in American Fork. "I think it would be good for us as citizens to know more about our country and how it operates."

East High parent Marty deLannoy said he would have no problem with such a requirement.

"They should know those things, and if they don't, there's a problem, because it's pretty basic civics," he said. "There's got to be accountability."

Lorena Riffo-Jensen, another co-chair of the initiative and president of VOX Creative, said she took the test 21 years ago when she became a U.S. citizen.

She said she remembers staying home from school as a 6-year-old in Chile because of a coup. Riffo-Jensen said she hopes helping the next generation understand the importance of civic duty will help prevent children in the U.S. from going through similar experiences.

"I think our young people may not understand the importance of the Constitution because it has been there for 227 years," Jensen said. "There is apathy because there's a disconnect to this document that protects our rights."

Brandt Shaw, an eighth-grade U.S. History teacher at Monticello Academy, a West Valley City charter school, also thinks it's a good move. He said many graduating seniors don't know the duties of citizenship, which can lead to voter apathy.

"A lot of the time, students don't understand when they're 16, 17, 18 what their responsibilities are and how important that can be," Shaw said.

Officials in six other states — Arizona, Missouri, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota — also announced plans for civics legislation Wednesday.

The initiative's national board of directors includes former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, journalist Carl Bernstein and actor Joe Mantegna. —

Would you pass the test?

To see all the test questions and answers, go to http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test. Or, we've included examples of some of the questions:

Q: What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?

A: the Bill of Rights

Q: Who is in charge of the executive branch?

A: the President

Q: The House of Representatives has how many voting members?

A: 435

Q: If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?

A: the Vice President

Q: How many justices are on the Supreme Court?

A: nine

Q: Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

A: Thomas Jefferson