3rd Grade Reading Bill Getting Overhauled in MI Senate

Legislation that aims to up the reading standards of students entering the fourth grade is getting an overhaul in the Michigan Senate.

The measure, which passed the House last fall, would require students to be reading at a certain level in order to advance to the fourth grade.

However the bill has been tweaked in a Senate committee to make those standards less stringent.

State Senator Phil Pavlov, R-St. Clair, says, under the changes, a third grader that isn’t hitting the necessary benchmarks could still move on to fourth grade if their parents say there’s a good reason for it.

Pavlov is chairman of the Senate committee making changes to the bill.

The so-called good cause exemption would then leave it up to the school’s superintendent to decide if the child should move on or be held back a grade.

The architect of the bill, State Representative Amanda Price, R-Holland, wouldn’t go so far as to say the changes water the measure down. Instead, she calls it a difference in philosophy.

The legislation has not been voted on yet in committee, which is slated to meet again Tuesday.