{"id":3158,"date":"2023-03-07T16:58:25","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T21:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/uncategorized\/gov-gretchen-whitmer-poised-sign-repeal-michigan-read-or-flunk-law\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T16:23:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T20:23:08","slug":"gov-gretchen-whitmer-poised-sign-repeal-michigan-read-or-flunk-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/gov-gretchen-whitmer-poised-sign-repeal-michigan-read-or-flunk-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Gretchen Whitmer poised to sign repeal of Michigan read-or-flunk law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em>House Democrats voted Tuesday to repeal the read-or-flunk portion of the state\u2019s third grade reading law\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>The repeal bill now heads to Gov. Whitmer for likely signature<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>Under the law, 773 third-graders were held back in 2021 and 2022, with Black and low-income students more likely to repeat <\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>LANSING \u2014 Michigan\u2019s Democratic-controlled House voted Tuesday to repeal the part of the state\u2019s controversial third-grade reading law that required students who test more than a grade behind in reading to repeat third grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/doc.aspx?2023-SB-0012\">legislation<\/a>, previously approved by the state Senate, is now headed toward the desk of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her likely signature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reading retention laws have become fairly common in recent decades as states seek to improve literacy early in students\u2019 academic lives and reduce dropout rates. But critics contend the Michigan law is overly punitive, inequitable and ineffective.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/many-leadership-positions-risk-detroit-schools-covid-19-relief-dries\">Many leadership positions at risk in Detroit schools as COVID-19 relief dries up<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/should-michigan-schools-teach-cursive-some-say-yes\">Should Michigan schools teach cursive? Some say yes.<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/michigans-4-year-graduation-rate-so-dropout-rate\">Michigan\u2019s 4-year graduation rate up, but so is the dropout rate<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In truth, the so-called read-or-flunk law was not so absolute. The GOP-passed measure contained multiple loopholes that allowed most struggling students to proceed to fourth grade \u2014 though in practice, Black and low-income students who qualified for retention were far more likely to be held back than more affluent white students.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe retention aspect of this law has been a threat hanging over our students\u2019 heads,\u201d state Rep. Nate Shannon, a Sterling Heights Democrat and former teacher, said before the vote. \u201cHolding students back reinforces achievement gaps, racial inequality and disproportionately impacts low-income communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All but one Republican voted against the repeal legislation, arguing that mandatory retention of struggling readers can help improve dismal student test scores and should not be disbanded before its impact can be fully assessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The repeal bill \u201cremoves tools that a district can utilize in their approach to one of the most important aspects of learning: failure,\u201d said Rep. Brad Paquette, R-Niles. \u201cThis legislation is not data driven, yet contributes to a culture that runs away from failure rather than traversing through it and further adds on to a foundation of uncertainty around education policy here in the state of Michigan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2016 reading retention law, approved by then-Gov. Rick Snyder and a Republican-led Legislature, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/michigan-democrats-big-education-priority-reform-or-kill-read-or-flunk-law\">supposed to take effect in 2020<\/a> but was delayed a year because the COVID-19 pandemic led to cancellation of the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michigan schools held back a combined 773 third-grade students because of the law in 2021 and 2022. But administrators used broad exemptions in the law to advance another 9,657 students who would have otherwise qualified for retention, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/epicedpolicy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/RBG3_Retention_Report2_Dec2022.pdf\">researchers at Michigan State University<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11.5pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1d1c1d\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\"><span style=\"font-style:normal\"><span style=\"text-decoration:none\">Black students and those from low-income families were <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/detroit.chalkbeat.org\/2022\/12\/6\/23496748\/michigan-third-grade-reading-retention-held-back\" style=\"text-decoration:none\"><span style=\"font-size:11.5pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\"><span style=\"font-style:normal\"><span style=\"text-decoration:none\">more than twice as likely<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11.5pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1d1c1d\"><span style=\"background-color:#ffffff\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\"><span style=\"font-style:normal\"><span style=\"text-decoration:none\"> to be held back compared to their white and wealthier peers who also were identified for retention because they struggled to read, researchers found.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The legislation now awaiting Whitmer\u2019s signature would repeal the third-grade retention part of the \u201cread or flunk\u201d law but retain other provisions designed to aid students who are struggling to read, including reading intervention services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Public education groups have generally supported the repeal effort, and the MSU study found that only 26 percent of teachers, 9 percent of principals and 8 percent of superintendents believe retention is an effective intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of last year, Michigan was one of 17 states with a third grade reading retention law, in addition to eight others that allow for retention but do not require it, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/research\/education\/third-grade-reading-legislation\">National Conference of State Legislatures<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Whitmer\u2019s signature, Michigan would join Nevada as the only other state to repeal mandatory retention provisions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Michigan repeal effort comes amid continued academic struggles. The state\u2019s fourth grade students last year recorded their<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/michigans-student-scores-fell-along-nations-during-covid-19\"> lowest reading scores in three decades<\/a>, according to results from spring testing of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a nationally representative and ongoing assessment which evaluates students\u2019 knowledge and abilities in a variety of subjects including reading.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michigan\u2019s fourth grade average scale reading score ranked 40th in the nation. Reading and math scores dropped from 2019 to 2022 in every state. Experts said it was no surprise given the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/01\/30\/health\/covid-learning-loss-study-wellness\/index.html\">extreme disruptions COVID-19 caused schools<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere is no one-size-fits-all solution, which is why educators develop individualized reading plans,\u201d said state Rep. Lori Stone, D-Warren, who voted to repeal the retention law.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cArbitrarily retaining students results in an increased dropout rate and increased rates of incarceration. As such, continuing this policy of retention will continue to be counterproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The repeal legislation, now awaiting Whitmer\u2019s signature, is the latest in a series of relatively quick actions by Democrats who in January took over both chambers of the Michigan Legislature for the first time in 40 years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new liberal majority has already repealed a GOP tax on pension income, expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, moved up the state\u2019s presidential primary date, advanced gay rights legislation and begun to take up gun control measures, among other things.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Wednesday, Democrats will begin another major policy debate as the House Labor Committee takes up union-backed legislation to repeal the state\u2019s right-to-work law and restore worker wage guarantees for government-funded construction projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michigan Democrats finalized legislation Tuesday that would repeal part of a GOP law that required schools to hold back struggling readers who are a year or more behind after third grade. Research shows Black and low-income students were far more likely to be held back.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1066,"featured_media":22013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[2445],"tags":[1510,57],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2677],"class_list":["post-3158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-michigan-government","tag-michigan-k-12-schools","tag-michigan-third-grade-reading","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gov. Gretchen Whitmer poised to sign repeal of Michigan read-or-flunk law - Bridge Michigan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/gov-gretchen-whitmer-poised-sign-repeal-michigan-read-or-flunk-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gov. Gretchen Whitmer poised to sign repeal of Michigan read-or-flunk law - Bridge Michigan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michigan Democrats finalized legislation Tuesday that would repeal part of a GOP law that required schools to hold back struggling readers who are a year or more behind after third grade. 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He helps plan and execute in-depth reporting and campaign coverage. As a longtime political reporter, Jonathan was named 2021 Journalist of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. He and a colleague shared that honor again in 2023, when they were also named Journalists of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists \u2013 Detroit Chapter. Jonathan covered the state Capitol for The Detroit News and MLive before joining Bridge in September of 2019. He's from Grand Rapids, lives in Lansing and loves spending time Up North.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/author\/jonathan-oosting\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gov. Gretchen Whitmer poised to sign repeal of Michigan read-or-flunk law - Bridge Michigan","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/gov-gretchen-whitmer-poised-sign-repeal-michigan-read-or-flunk-law\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gov. Gretchen Whitmer poised to sign repeal of Michigan read-or-flunk law - Bridge Michigan","og_description":"Michigan Democrats finalized legislation Tuesday that would repeal part of a GOP law that required schools to hold back struggling readers who are a year or more behind after third grade. 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In her State of the State address, Whitmer will unveil a plan designed to help parents get around the Republican-backed law.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Talent &amp; Education&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Talent &amp; Education","link":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/category\/talent-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/3rd_grade_slide_23_0.jpg?fit=1120%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/3rd_grade_slide_23_0.jpg?fit=1120%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/3rd_grade_slide_23_0.jpg?fit=1120%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/3rd_grade_slide_23_0.jpg?fit=1120%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/3rd_grade_slide_23_0.jpg?fit=1120%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7633,"url":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/mike-shirkey-im-open-changing-michigans-third-grade-reading-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":3158,"position":5},"title":"Mike Shirkey: I\u2019m open to changing Michigan\u2019s third-grade reading law","author":"Jonathan Oosting","date":"December 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Hearing concerns from educators, Michigan\u2019s Senate Majority Leader says he\u2019s considering changes to the law that could flunk 5,000 third-graders in May.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Michigan Government&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Michigan Government","link":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/category\/michigan-government\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/shirkey-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/shirkey-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/shirkey-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/shirkey-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/shirkey-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1066"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3158"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58475,"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158\/revisions\/58475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3158"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=3158"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}