State lawmakers in two key committees advanced a compromise bill this week to tweak Tennessee’s highly criticized Third-Grade Retention Law.
Members of the House K-12 Subcommittee passed the legislation on a voice vote Tuesday and the Senate Education Committee followed with an 8-0 vote in support on Wednesday.
The General Assembly passed the Third-Grade Retention Law in 2021 to ensure students who need additional support in reading would receive them before being promoted to fourth grade. Recently, the law has come under fire from opponents who worry it may do more harm than good holding students back a grade based on Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) test scores.
Legislators proposed more than a dozen bills to either repeal or tweak the law and the advancing compromise bill, sponsored by Senator Jon Lundberg and Representative Mark White, incorporated some of the suggestions.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about education in Tennessee over these last few years, especially about the reading issues that kids are facing. COVID-19 did not do use any favors with our kids so we put our heads together. We just saw all these bills about the Third-Grade Retention Bill and its inception was to draw a line in the sand to say we cannot continue to move our kids forward unless they’re on grade level,” said Culleoka Representative Scott Cepicky in presenting the legislation to the House subcommittee. “We’ve looked at these retention bills and there are some very legitimate, good ideas that we’ve decided to pull out and put on one bill to try and address some shortcomings.”
The legislation adds on to already established interventions for students including educational support in the summer, and supporters say it will reduce the total number of third graders held back under the law.
One key provision would expand the testing score requirement for children to advance to the fourth grade so that a second state-approved test can be considered for third graders who score just under the TCAP requirement.
The bill also creates a wider field for parents who want to apply for a waiver to allow their child to advance and direct the state Board of Education to establish the rules for how that appeal process will work. Under the legislation, students who are retained in the third grade would receive additional tutors and reading support.
The compromise legislation passed with both support and criticism from both sides of the aisle.
Knoxville Democrat Representative Sam McKenzie was among the bill’s supporters, calling the compromise legislation an enhancement.
“Every last one of these are enhancements and I thank you for bringing those enhancements. Just the nature of the way we do business, we don’t always get it perfect the first time,” said Representative McKenzie.
Other legislators expressed concern that enough hasn’t been done to improve literacy rates and the pressures that come with taking the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program.
“Where we’re at, at this particular time is because the state, our local school districts, our teachers and our parents have failed our kids. And in my opinion, we continually keep moving the threshold further and further down when we end up looking at the overall performance,” said Maryville Representative Bryan Richey. “I’m not in favor of moving the goal posts further down the road or lowering it down or pushing somebody through and giving them a participation trophy. Unfortunately, that’s where we all have to be adults that are looking at this and how it impacts us. The blame is on us that we did not pour into our students properly.”
The legislation now faces votes in the Education Administration Committee and full Senate.
