Up North Progressive

Any time you have DeVos money GLEP in favor of something, you know it has to be a bad idea. H.B. 4822 is a really bad idea.

H.B. 4822 requires third grade students to receive a satisfactory score on their ELA standardized mandatory state tests or repeat the third grade. The teacher has no say, the school has no say, but most importantly the parents have no say in whether this happens or not. It would be a blanket, across the board judgement on any third grade student who doesn’t do well on a standardized test. The state will decide if your child can continue on to 4th grade or not, without considering other options that would help the child improve.

Near the end of the school year this spring the state papers published an article meant to scare parents and politicians into believing Michigan’s 4th graders were doing so badly in school, Michigan was going to rank dead last in achievement in reading. The slick 48 page report, chock full of graphics and bright colors didn’t provide any real evidence that Michigan’s 4th graders were failing. In fact, the Michigan Department of Education posted three months previously that 4th graders improved for the fourth straight year in a row. The article was a hit piece from Education Trust, an organization responsible for No Child Left Behind, the education law forced on American public schools during the Bush administration and predictably failed in every way.

School districts in the state are so concerned about the real damage H.B. 4822 will do to Michigan’s schools, that so far, Plymouth-Canton, Lincoln, and East Lansing Public Schools have all issued resolutions against the bill. The superintendent of Dexter Community Schools openly stated his concerns about the cost of H.B. 4822 on their school district. The bill’s supporters do not seem to understand that there is no money in any school budget in the state that will allow for hiring extra reading coaches for these students, not to mention the extra cost of holding back potentially thousands of students every year to repeat the third grade.
On Tuesday, October 13, 2015, the Michigan Department of Education issued a memo stating their concerns with H.B. 4822 and the impact it will have on public education in the state.

While the State Board of Education is a strong supporter of … positive strategies,
the board remains opposed to the concept of “Smart Promotion/Retention,” which
currently remains in the bill. While there are situations where retaining students in
their current grade is warranted, that decision needs to be decided on case-by-case
basis, between educators and parents. It should not be automatic.

 

Instead of requiring retention at the state level, the State Board of Education
recommends requiring local districts to develop an enforceable local plan related to
retention/promotion, which shall be approved by the Michigan Department of
Education.

 

The State Board of Education urges members of the state Legislature to provide the
supports and positive strategies to help all students read at grade level, without the
mandate of grade retention that currently is written in House Bill 4822.

And the MDE exposes the purpose of H.B. 4822. This bill is not designed in any way to improve 4th grade reading achievement scores, but to put more of a burden on cash-strapped school districts forcing them to pay for expensive programs and services they don’t have the funding to provide.

Remember this rule: If GLEP likes it, it’s bad for Michigan. Dick and Betsy DeVos are dedicated to using their money and influence to eradicate public education from the United States. They have pushed their agenda on the state of Michigan for decades, and will not stop until they get everything they want. The state house could be voting on this bill today, please contact your state representative and urge them to vote no on H.B. 4822.