LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Thomas Albert and two Republican colleagues this week introduced legislation to help revive Michigan’s failing public schools and return the focus to student achievement.
The plan would restore accountability to Michigan’s “Read by Grade Three” law, tightly connect student achievement to teacher evaluations, provide more pathways to student success, and make other significant changes to improve outcomes for kids. Several of the new Republican bills would repeal harmful education policies approved by Lansing Democrats even as Michigan student achievement has worsened and declined in national rankings.
“Over the past few years, Lansing Democrats have watered down standards for our schools at the expense of students across Michigan,” said Albert, R-Lowell. “There’s been more thought given to what special interests and adults in the system want than what our kids need. Our legislative plan puts the focus back where it belongs — helping students succeed and restoring accountability.”
The Republican plan would:
- Restore the provision allowing third graders to be retained if they are not reading at a proficient level — repealing a Democratic law from 2023. The proposal includes a list of exemptions to the retention provision, including advancement to the fourth grade at the discretion of the superintendent. (Senate Bill 376, sponsored by Albert).
- Add alternatives to the Michigan Merit Curriculum to allow students to pursue paths that better match their interests and skills. Some math credits could be replaced by career technical education, computer science or college dual enrollment classes. A multi-option personal finance requirement would be added to include more real-world skills in instruction. Also, schools would be required to train K-5 teachers in the science of reading. (SB 377, sponsored by Albert).
- Reinstate the A-F grading scale for individual schools so parents have an easy-to-understand tool to evaluate how their children’s schools are performing. (SB 378, sponsored by Sen. Ruth Johnson).
- Reinstate annual evaluations of teachers, require student progress be part of every teacher’s evaluation process, and allow evaluation results to be considered when promoting or removing teachers. (SBs 379 and 380, sponsored by Sen. John Damoose and Johnson, respectively).
- Empower school leaders to make the best decisions for their students by prohibiting collective bargaining of the school calendar, teacher placement and staffing or program reductions, and development and implementation of the performance evaluation system. (SB 381, sponsored by Albert).
“This package will not solve all of the problems in our schools, but it’s a massive step in the right direction,” Albert said.
Albert also has advocated for requiring more in-person instruction days, addressing chronic absenteeism, limiting cellphone usage in schools and several other reforms as the academic performance of Michigan students continues to slip since the pandemic.
Michigan ranked 44th among the states in average reading scores for fourth graders, based on 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress results. The English proficiency rate of Michigan third graders in 2024 was lower than the rate in eight out of the last 10 years, according to Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) results.
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