Three members of the Senate Republican caucus introduced legislation this week that they state will shift the focus to student achievement and improve outcomes. Many of the provisions seek to reinstate laws that were repealed in recent years.
Key Points:
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- Senate Bills 377 – 380 were introduced by Senators Thomas Albert (R-Lowell), Ruth Johnson (R-Holly), and John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs).
- Restores a provision allowing third graders to be retained if they are not reading at a proficient level. Exemptions are included in the bill.
- Add alternatives to the Michigan Merit Curriculum.
- 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.
- Schools would be required to train K-5 teachers in the science of reading.
- Reinstate the A-F grading scale for individual schools.
- Reinstate annual evaluations of teachers, require student progress to be part of every teacher’s evaluation process, and allow evaluation results to be considered when promoting or removing teachers.
- Prohibit collective bargaining of the school calendar, teacher placement and staffing, or program reductions, and the development and implementation of the performance evaluation system.
Next Steps:
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- The legislation was referred to the Senate Education Committee for consideration.
