To require all West Virginia high school students to pass a Civics examination and the United States Naturalization Examination
House Bill 4953 would amend West Virginia’s education code to require all high school students to pass a civics examination and a test substantially similar to the U.S. naturalization exam before graduating. The bill also updates the state’s required social studies and health education framework, including instruction on U.S. and West Virginia government, the Constitution, primary-source-based civics and history teaching, Celebrate Freedom Week, and a mandatory civics class that includes the West Virginia Constitution. It directs the State Board of Education to prescribe standards, approved instructional resources, and assessment instruments for history, civics, and health education.
In addition to the graduation testing requirement, the bill preserves and expands existing instructional mandates on health education, including AIDS and sexually transmitted disease prevention, substance abuse, nutrition, CPR, first aid, and overdose recognition. It also adds a new graduation requirement for one unit of high school computer science beginning with the entering ninth-grade class in 2027-2028, while allowing that credit to substitute for one math or personalized education plan credit and to count toward career technical education in some cases. The bill further requires the state board to publish approved computer science course options and adopt flexible rules for teacher licensure and credit fulfillment.
The bill would amend §18-2-9 of the West Virginia Code and would directly affect graduation requirements, curriculum standards, and statewide assessments in public schools, with similar course-of-study expectations extended to private, parochial, and denominational schools for certain instructional provisions. It would require the State Board of Education to develop or approve civics, history, health, and computer science standards, testing instruments, instructional resources, and implementation rules. For students, the bill would add a mandatory civics/naturalization-style graduation test and a computer science credit requirement, while also preserving existing health and CPR instruction mandates.
The available bill text and context suggest a generally supportive, civic-education-focused intent, with the bill framed as strengthening knowledge of government, constitutional principles, and American history. No committee transcript or recorded vote is provided, so there is no documented debate or formal opposition in the supplied materials. The bill’s note states its purpose plainly as requiring students to pass civics and naturalization examinations for graduation, indicating a strong emphasis on civic literacy and patriotic instruction.
The main potential points of contention are the mandatory graduation testing requirement, the scope and content of civics and history instruction, and the extent of state control over curriculum and approved instructional materials. Critics could object to requiring students to pass a naturalization-style exam as a condition of graduation, while supporters are likely to favor it as a civics benchmark. Additional areas that could draw debate include the inclusion of ideological comparisons in instruction, the Celebrate Freedom Week mandate, and the new computer science credit requirement with its substitution rules and teacher-certification flexibility.