Senate Bill 513, which requires high school students in Oregon to pass one half credit of civics in order to graduate, was passed into law by Gov. Kate Brown on June 3.
Sponsored by Senator Fred Girod (R) and Representative Paul Evans (D), SB 513 aims to educate Oregon students on general civics knowledge.
In testimony to the Senate Committee on Education regarding the bill, Representative Evans detailed the bill’s objective: “It requires our schools to prioritize civics education at a time when we need a greater understanding of what government can and cannot do.”.
Rep. Evans, who has been teaching Speech Communication at Chemeketa Community College since 2013, highlighted his interest in a public educated on the workings of the government saying “As a career educator, former local government leader, and as a retired USAF Officer, I believe there is nothing more important than people engaging in the decisions that govern our lives.” Rep. Evans’ office told the Clypian that Evans has been working on bringing civics education to Oregon high school students since 2015.
While making his case for SB 513, Rep. Evans emphasized the importance of an educated public saying “Democracies die when the citizens disengage, and we must not allow this to happen on our collective watch.”
Democracies die when the citizens disengage, and we must not allow this to happen on our collective watch.
Rep. Paul Evans
Prior to the passing of SB 513, Oregon was one of 11 states that did not require their citizens to meet any civics education requirements. As stated in the opening section of the law, recent statistics from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show that “only 24 percent of high school seniors test at or above proficiency level in civics.”
Given that SB-513 does not outline a civics curriculum, students and teachers at South were asked what they would want to see in a civics class.
Grace Borden, a senior at South, supported a “philosophical approach to civics that included international examples as opposed to learning about state and local government.”
Mrs. Harris-Clippinger, South’s IB director and an IB History teacher, echoed Borden’s remarks saying “Civics education should focus on what engages students and how to involve students in aspects of governance, both domestic and international, that they are interested in.” Harris-Clippinger added that “it is important to remember that often content is not retained years into the future. We want students to be engaged and invested in government because those qualities will stick with them for a lifetime.”
SB 513 will require students graduating Jan. 1, 2026 and after to pass one half credit of civics, paving the way for a newly educated electorate.
