A bill that would require marriage-before-children instruction at the high school level has advanced in the Indiana Senate, though it faces significant pushback from Democrats.
Senate Bill 88, or the "success sequence" bill, proposed by state Sen. Gary Byrne, a Republican, would require public schools to teach students the importance of earning at least a high school diploma and additional job training, securing full-time employment, and waiting until marriage to have children.
It would also expand college admissions options by directing state educational institutions to accept the Classic Learning Test on the same footing as the ACT and SAT.
"It's just something simple that you want to put in the back of the children's minds," Byrne told NBC News.
"Wait till you have that full-time job and get married, that way, you're working as a family unit," he said. "And instead of just being a single mom or single dad, the team is going to be far more able to be successful."
Democrat state Sen. Shelli Yoder said the instruction was inappropriate for a public-school education, particularly because the bill would add the success sequence to Indiana's "good citizenship" instruction.
"The student sitting there is going, Huh, my parents aren't good citizens," Yoder said.
"Questioning good citizenship because I was a surprise, or my mom got pregnant and had me before getting married or never got married."
Current Indiana law lists 13 principles schools must emphasize, including honesty; respecting authority, property, and others' beliefs; resolving conflicts without violence; and taking responsibility for family and community.
Byrne's bill seeks to weave in three other concepts: "the importance of obtaining at least a high school diploma and acquiring additional training in preparation for the workforce; securing full-time employment; and waiting until marriage to begin having children."
He described the additions as an expansion of the "success sequence," a three-pronged theory designed to help young adults avoid poverty and enter the middle class.
"The success sequence outlines three simple steps that researchers have consistently shown helps individuals to avoid poverty," Byrne said recently on the Senate floor.
"The data is striking. More than half the people who complete none of these three steps live in poverty," he added.
"Among those who complete all three, the numbers dropped to just 3% that would live in poverty."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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