Indiana Senate advances bill requiring marriage-before-children instruction

(INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE) — An education proposal to expand Indiana’s required “good citizenship” instruction to include high school completion, full-time employment and marriage passed the Senate on Thursday but drew opposition from Democrats. 

Senate Bill 88, authored by Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, passed 39-9, with all nine no votes coming from Democrats. The bill now heads to the House.

The underlying bill also requires Indiana’s public colleges and universities to accept the Classic Learning Test, or CLT, to the same extent they accept the SAT or ACT for admissions purposes.

Byrne described the CLT as a “rigorous” alternative exam. The test emphasizes reading, writing and mathematical reasoning and asks students to analyze foundational texts from figures like Plato, Frederick Douglass and Isaac Newton.

But the most debated portion of the legislation expands the state’s definition of “good citizenship instruction,” which all public schools are al...