After the new mandatory civics course was signed into law by Governor Bruce Rauner this summer, Paul Houston, the Global Studies Division Chair, immediately began preparations for the new class.

“I’m excited about it because I think the spirit of the legislation is good,” Houston said. “At the same time, I’m worried about it because of how messy it can get.”

This apprehension is due to the widespread uncertainty about details concerning the class. An amendment is on the table in the Illinois Legisl­­ature to let all current high school students out of the requirement, according to Houston. If this amendment is passed, the course would become mandatory for the class of 2020 and beyond.

This uncertainty has not prevented optimism from spreading about this class. Jessica Lee, an AP U.S. Government teacher, is hopeful about the future civics class.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Lee said. “I do believe it is necessary for people to know and understand the voting process in America, understand how the government works, understand how elections work.”

Lee sees the class as filling a gap in education about how politics works.

“My friends are all intelligent, my friends have all graduated college, my friends are all professionals, and a lot of them don’t know or understand our democratic system works,” said Lee. “I think part of it is that they were never taught.”

There are some small issues with the implementation of the class. It is still unknown if the class will be offered at South or North Campus, if it will count as a Social Studies elective and other details about class structure, according to Houston.

Teachers and administrators are also wondering if some existing classes may cover the civics requirement. AP U.S. Government may meet the standards passed by the state legislature, and Constitutional Law and Contemporary Issues come close, according to Houston.

“If the state allows [AP Government], it would need minor modifications to the class,” Houston said.

Some of these changes may include adding a service learning requirement, but most of the class framework would probably stay the same, according to Lee.

“AP Government should fulfill the requirement,” Lee said. “I can’t imagine how it wouldn’t.”

The Global Studies department, however, has already been working to clarify the policy. On the school improvement day, the department spent an hour and a half talking about the changes that would need to be made.

“I definitely would prefer [the process] to be simple and clear for the students,” Houston said. “We need to streamline and make it easier and clearer.”