The proposal has the support of the head of the U.S. Department of Education
By:Juan Salinas II
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Nebraska is looking to require students to retake third grade if they fail a state-mandated reading test — with some exceptions.
The proposal is from the Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, carried by State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, chair of the Legislature’s Education Committee. Legislative Bill 1050 would require schools to help students who fail to meet the new benchmarks with an “intensive acceleration class” featuring a smaller student-teacher ratio to focus on improving students’ reading level.
Students could be held back once between third and fourth grade, determined by three reading assessments during the school year. The new requirements would begin fall of 2027.
Nebraska students in kindergarten through second grade would also take three reading assessments three times during the school year to determine whether they were at the correct reading level. Students receiving special education services or accommodations would be exempt under the proposal.
The proposal is a part of the governor’s focus on education for this session.
Trump Education Secretary Linda McMahon posted her support for Pillen’s proposal on social media Tuesday, saying, “Accountability partnered with focused tutoring for students who need additional help will provide an education Nebraska’s students deserve.”
The bill had its hearing before the Education Committee on Tuesday. Both supporters and opponents of the bill looked toMississippi as an example. Mississippi turned around its near-dead-last ranking on national tests in 2013 to a top 10 state for fourth-grade reading. It has been dubbed the “Mississippi Miracle.”
Supporters and Murman used the southern state and its “miracle” to say that retention was the reason it worked, while opponents said it was extra services that led to success. Some of Murman’s committee members hinted that the bill might need some tweaks.
“A child who cannot read by third grade is not failing the system. The system is failing that child,” Heather Schmidt of Lincoln, a supporter of the bill, said during the hearing.
Schmidt said the proposal should be strengthened by amending the bill so schools are required to screen for dyslexia, an issue she and her daughter, who has dyslexia, have asked the Legislature to provide more support around. She said the bill is an “opportunity” to help struggling readers.
Lisa Schonhoff of Bennington, an elected member of the State Board of Education speaking in her personal capacity, expressed her support of the governor’s proposal. The former teacher said “a lot” of parents come to her asking why their children are so behind in reading when she offers outside tutoring.
“Accountability is paramount,” Schonhoff said. “This is the accountability piece that we need.”
Other supporters of the proposal said it can help students who need it to catch up.
Opponents of the bill said holding kids back is ineffective and harmful and questioned if the state has the money for those “acceleration” classes. Stacy Lovelace, for example, said her dad was held back because he didn’t read at grade level.
“It didn’t make him a better reader or a better student,” Lovelace said. “Instead, it left him with a lifetime of shame and a mantra of ‘I’m stupid.’”
She asked the committee why they are proposing to use “1950s tactics” when there are 21st-century treatments and supports available for kids.
Since 2018, schools have been required to identify K-3 students with reading deficiencies and put them on “reading improvement plans.” That was the result of legislation from then-State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of the Elkhorn area. In her freshman year in 2017, she initially proposed mandatory holding back of struggling third-grade readers before scaling back.
In his tele-town hall from earlier this month, Pillen said that the state doesn’t need more “self-esteem crap.”
“When third graders can’t read in third grade, they are not going on to fourth grade,” Pillen said last week. “I believe this policy will help educators.”