SCHOOLS AREN'T COMPLYING WITH NEW LAW ON READING

Cape Girardeau and Jackson school districts are among those in Missouri out of compliance with a one-year-old state law that requires school districts to retain students who are not reading at their grade level.

School officials estimated the majority of districts would be out of compliance with the statute enacted last August that eliminates social promotion for students whose reading levels are at least one year behind their grade level.

The law, included in House Bill 889, is worded in a do-or-die manner that leaves no negotiating room for school officials, many of whom would rather work with at-risk students than retain them.

"I'd like to see it be a little more flexible rather than saying the student has to be retained," said Cape Girardeau schools Assistant Superintendent Kathy Evans. "I think it's good to the point it makes us focus our attention on exactly where every child is, but I think we've always done that and identified those problem children to help them get the help they need."

Evans and Dr. Rita Fischer, Jackson schools assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said their districts are in noncompliance mainly because they were expecting a revision to the law that would have provided time for policy implementation before districts began retaining students who didn't meet the standard.

Policies are being developed in both districts that would address the retention issue in the coming year.

"I think it caught a lot of school districts off guard because they really thought it was going to be repealed or revised," said Evans. "I think all schools are going to do what they can to meet the letter of the law."

Oran schools Superintendent Tom Anderson said he also expected revisions to the law and will make becoming compliant a priority in the coming year. Had his district tried to be compliant for the last school year, a number of students still would not know whether they would advance to the next grade level because test results on a state reading assessment have not come in yet, he said.

"If we wait until a week before school starts to let someone know they are not reading where they need to and they don't have the opportunity to catch up, that's where I see the problem," he said.

State Sen. Steve Ehlmann, R-St. Charles, who wrote the social promotion law, said he supported the revisions to the law that died in the final moments of the General Assembly session last spring. Even so, Ehlmann said he does not excuse noncompliant districts.

"You're a law-breaker. The law says you can't promote these students," he said. "I knew last year once we started talking about modifying this stuff that people would just sit down and continue business as usual."

Ehlmann, a former educator whose wife is a high school teacher, said school districts have not focused their efforts on literacy despite additional funding being spent on education.

Educators should work to ensure they are fulfilling the public trust in helping every child to reach academic potential, he said. And the thought their child might have to repeat a grade level should be the motivation parents need to assist schools in their efforts.

Said Ehlmann: "This is the dirty little secret of the educational establishment. I don't want anybody to be held back. I want schools to get serious about reading. Let's forget about field trips and spend however much time we need to get them to read."

Ehlmann met with school districts in St. Charles County last fall to ensure his constituents were aware of the new law. Administrators in four of the districts were unavailable for comment Friday.

But Daniel Dozier, assistant to the superintendent at Orchard Farm School District, said his district has updated retention policies but did not enforce them last year.

"We've got the policies in place to at least have reading as an element towards retention," said Dozier. "We have an aggressive campaign to be launched this year."

Dozier and other administrators said they support the legislation's intent but see a problem with enforcement. The statute does not include any penalties or punishments for noncompliance, and no agency is charged with enforcing the law. Also absent from the statute is any mention of what type of test should be used or how often students are to be tested.

"Obviously reading is a concern. You can't be successful in today's economic structure if you don't have good reading skills," Dozier said. "I understand the cause and the support within the legislation to want to address those issues. I'm just not sure the way it was put together really was thought through."

Said Rita Fischer of Jackson schools, "As it's stated, I don't think it's a good law, but if we can interpret it so that good things happen for children, then it will be a good law."