New law requires civics test, CPR for high-schoolers

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri high-school students will need to pass a civics exam, and public schools must set time aside daily for the Pledge of Allegiance under a package of education measures Gov. Jay Nixon signed into law Wednesday.

The law requires most students who start ninth grade after July 2017 to pass a 100-question civics exam similar to the U.S. citizenship test to graduate. It's part of a national push by Arizona-based Joe Foss Institute to see similar laws in all 50 states.

The legislation calls for public high-school students beginning in fall 2017 to receive 30 minutes of training on CPR and first aid for choking, such as the Heimlich maneuver.

Other provisions in the Missouri legislation expand a community-college scholarship program to private schools.

Nixon touted a policy change to create a pilot program to rate preschools based on quality. Nixon's office said Missouri was the only state that banned a quality rating system for preschools.

Participation by early-childhood centers in the three-year pilot program will be voluntary.

Another pilot program established in the measure calls for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide to five schools intensive training on trauma-informed education, defined in law as an approach involving "understanding and responding to the symptoms of chronic interpersonal trauma and traumatic stress across the lifespan." It's subject to funding.

The agency also must offer training to all school districts and create an informative website on the method.

Nixon highlighted an expansion of the state's A+ Scholarship program, which pays for two years of community college for students who meet attendance, grade-point average and volunteer requirements.

Private schools that also meet certain eligibility requirements can apply to offer the program to students when that provision takes effect Aug. 28.

Nixon said it will help "even more hard working Missouri students attend community college without paying a nickel for tuition."

Public schools also in August will be required to give students a chance every school day to say the Pledge of Allegiance, which is only required once a week. Beginning in the 2018 school year, public schools also will need to conduct dyslexia screenings.

In addition to the new requirements for public schools, the measure calls for charter schools to meet the same state academic performance standards required of other public schools.