{"id":5266,"date":"2020-02-24T21:12:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T21:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/polehanki\/?p=5266"},"modified":"2020-02-24T21:12:54","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T21:12:54","slug":"governor-whitmer-is-focused-on-families-not-breaking-the-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/polehanki\/2020\/02\/24\/governor-whitmer-is-focused-on-families-not-breaking-the-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Whitmer is focused on families, not breaking the law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Governor Whitmer is not breaking the law by pledging to help families navigate Michigan\u2019s third grade reading law, which will fail as many as 5,000 third graders based on one high-stakes standardized test, the M-STEP, they take this spring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his recent Detroit News op-ed, \u201cOpinion: Whitmer\u2019s rebellion hurts our kids,\u201d<\/a> Sen. Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) essentially accuses Governor Whitmer of wild, wild West-style lawlessness because of an initiative she announced in her 2020 State of the State speech \u2014 public-private partnerships with philanthropic organizations to support families that will be most impacted by the third grade reading retention mandate signed by the previous administration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there are some exemptions built into the retention mandate of 2016, the process for getting one for a child will be complicated for families. The concern is that parents and guardians will need help to understand it because they may not be aware that they have the lawful right to weigh in \u2014 and have their child exempted from the law.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a retention letter is mailed to a child\u2019s last known address, parents or guardians only have a 30-day window in the summer to meet with school officials to discuss whether retention is in their child\u2019s best interest. Further complicating matters, Michigan’s third grade reading law is predicted to disproportionately affect urban school districts with lower income and minority children, meaning that parents \u2014 some working more than one job to make ends meet \u2014 may not even know that their child could be made to repeat third grade without their input.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A prudent and proactive approach, such as what Gov. Whitmer is suggesting, that informs parents about their rights is essential. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is ironic and quite frankly, hypocritical, that the Senate Majority Leader \u2014 of the party that despises \u201conerous state mandates\u201d and that reveres personal freedom and local control \u2014 would be in favor of a mandate that can strip parents and schools of the freedom to advocate for what is in the best interest of children.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Shirkey only needs to look to Florida, which allocates significantly more funding for literacy coaches and other reading supports than Michigan, to see that their 2002 third grade reading law has shown that short-term gains for retained students disappear over time. Moreover, experts who have studied retention practices in general agree that at best, they\u2019re neutral, and at worst, they\u2019re academically and psychologically harmful.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governor is not \u201ccircumventing\u201d the law, \u201cdisregarding\u201d the law, \u201cignoring\u201d the law, or \u201cinciting rebellion.\u201d She is simply trying to help parents know what their options are when it comes to exemptions to retention and the latitude for judgment that they and educators have \u2014 and <\/em>that the law provides.<\/em>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to the picture that Sen. Shirkey paints in his op-ed, the governor is supportive of measures in the law that would truly help kids read, such as progress monitoring of students on their reading abilities, using early literacy coaches and reading intervention programs, providing K-3 teachers with professional development opportunities on reading, and notifying parents of early literacy delays and providing them with \u201cRead at Home\u201d plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, I introduced Senate Bill 633<\/a> in early November to amend the law and keep only these beneficial parts while eliminating mandatory grade retention based on a student\u2019s standardized test score. My bill would also extend these literacy supports to struggling readers in their fourth-grade year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me be clear: No two students are alike. Retaining kids based solely on a test score isn\u2019t innovation \u2014 it\u2019s regression.<\/a> We must do away with the test-and-punish piece of Michigan\u2019s reading law, invest in early childhood education and literacy coaches, and give families and education professionals the ability to tailor a path that is right for each student. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s an idea, Sen. Shirkey: Let\u2019s trust our teachers and schools to determine who to retain and when, rather than forcing a test-based grade promotion law on them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Dayna <\/em>Polehanki<\/em>, D-<\/em>Livonia<\/em>, is a former English teacher and current Democratic vice chair of the Senate Education Committee.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Governor Whitmer is not breaking the law by pledging to help families navigate Michigan\u2019s third grade reading law, which will fail as many as 5,000 third graders based on one high-stakes standardized test, the M-STEP, they take this spring.  In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pr"],"yoast_head":"\nGovernor Whitmer is focused on families, not breaking the law - Senator Dayna Polehanki<\/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:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/polehanki\/2020\/02\/24\/governor-whitmer-is-focused-on-families-not-breaking-the-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Governor Whitmer is focused on families, not breaking the law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Governor Whitmer is not breaking the law by pledging to help families navigate Michigan\u2019s third grade reading law, which will fail as many as 5,000 third graders based on one high-stakes standardized test, the M-STEP, they take this spring.  In […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/polehanki\/2020\/02\/24\/governor-whitmer-is-focused-on-families-not-breaking-the-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Senator Dayna Polehanki\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-24T21:12:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/governor-whitmer-is-focused-on-families-not-breaking-the-law\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/governor-whitmer-is-focused-on-families-not-breaking-the-law\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Governor Whitmer is focused on families, not breaking the law\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-24T21:12:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/governor-whitmer-is-focused-on-families-not-breaking-the-law\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":881,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Press release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/governor-whitmer-is-focused-on-families-not-breaking-the-law\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/governor-whitmer-is-focused-on-families-not-breaking-the-law\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/governor-whitmer-is-focused-on-families-not-breaking-the-law\\\/\",\"name\":\"Governor Whitmer is focused on families, not breaking the law - 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