INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Senate Education Committee chairman Dennis Kruse has a simple idea: the knowledge standard for immigrants should be the same for our own high school students.

That’s why the Republican is introducing a bill that would require Indiana students to pass a civics test before they receive a diploma.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

“I believe that if we’re asking someone from a foreign country to know this information, that our own citizens ought to know it,” Kruse tells the Lafayette Journal-Courier.

While the bill is still being drafted, it will “require all public and charter school students to correctly answer at least 60 percent of the 100 civics questions that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services uses to administer its naturalization test.”

The newspaper notes immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship are asked 10 of the set of 100 questions and must answer 60 percent correctly, as well.

The questioned asked of immigrants are American Civics 101, such as:

* “Who was the first President?”
* “Why does the flag have 13 stripes?” and
* “When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?”

Kruse has reason to be concerned.

Sam Stone, political director for the Civics Education Initiative, says while 92 percent of immigrants pass the test on the first try, less than 5 percent of high schoolers do.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

A survey released in September by the Annenberg Institute found:

* Only 36 percent of respondents could name all three branches of the U.S. government, while 35 percent couldn’t name a single one.
* A mere 27 percent know it takes a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to override a presidential veto.
* Twenty-one percent think – incorrectly – that a 5-4 Supreme Court decision is sent back to Congress for reconsideration.

And who can forget this embarrassing video of high school students failing to answer basic questions, such as “Who is the vice president?”

Stone notes Kruse’s bill would make Indiana one of about 15 states considering such a requirement.

It comes as more states put a greater emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math courses, sometimes at the expense of other subjects.

“No matter how much knowledge you have, if you don’t know how to use that knowledge within our system of government, it’s not much good,” Stone tells the Journal-Courier.

“Our government was designed to be run by informed, engaged citizens. We have an incredibly dangerous form of government for people who don’t know how it works.”