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Testing allegiance: Arizona requires students to pass civics test

High school students in Arizona will be required to pass a civics test, similar to the citizenship exam, to graduate
Arizona requiring students to pass civics tests 02:54

What war was President Dwight D. Eisenhower in? What are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution called?

If you can't answer those questions, you might not be able to graduate from high school in Arizona, which now requires students to pass a civics test to get their diplomas.

More than a dozen other states are considering similar laws, CBS News' David Begnaud reports.

"I'm tired of the state making data with our kids," said Phoenix public school teacher Sue Campbell. "Enough already."

You better be ready for a lecture if you ask Campbell what she thinks of her state's newest law.

"It is redundant and not needed," she said. "Politicians have, once again, micromanaged part of the American public school."

Called the American Civics Act, the new law aims to have students prove that they know American history and government.

"This is the same test that people have to take and pass to become a U.S. citizen," said Republican state Sen. Steve Yarbrough, the bill's sponsor. "And so why should our youth, the people who are already blessed with citizenship, not be able to pass this test?"

The test includes questions like: "Who was the president during World War I?"

"Woodrow Wilson was the president," said high school senior Evelyn Villegas.

She's right, and she would likely pass the new test. Villegas is undocumented and hopes to one day become an American citizen.

"When I decide to take my citizenship test, the information that I learned in class will give me an advantage," she said.

Starting in the eighth grade, students can begin taking the new civics test.

To graduate, they must correctly answer 60 out of 100 questions, which can stump even post-graduates.

Questions such as: "We elect a U.S. senator for how many years?"

The correct answer is six.

"I think it'd be cool for them to know this considering that I don't really know it," said college student Joey Valdes. " ... I slept a lot during class in high school, so that would probably be why."

To which Frank Riggs, CEO of the Joe Foss Institute, said, "I say shame on them for basically- I guess you can say for turning off and tuning out."

Riggs runs the Arizona-based institute, which is pushing the test nationally with a goal of having it adopted it all 50 states.

For Campbell, who's been in the classroom more than 25 years, the newest law of the Grand Canyon State creates a new divide -- between teachers and those who think they know better.

"You have to trust the classroom teachers to teach," she said.

The class of 2017 will be the first students required to take the test in order to graduate. Anyone who fails may retake the test until they pass.

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