Third-graders lacking basic reading skills will be held back rather than moving to the next grade under a proposal approved by the House on Tuesday.

The legislation, HB 21, is part of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's plan for improving public schools.

Supporters of the measure say students who can't read by the third grade are likely to struggle in later grades and will be at a high risk of dropping out of school

"If we can make sure ... they are getting the skills within the third grade and not promoting them until they are ready, then they will start to read in order to learn and maybe we'll reduce that dropout rate, maybe we will then start to make sure they are encouraged to continue to go on to college," the governor told reporters after the House vote.

Under current law, parents can overrule a school that wants to retain a student rather than promoting them to the next grade. The legislation will eliminate a parental veto when students reach the third grade — ending a practice known as "social promotion."

Starting in the 2012-2013 school year, a third-grader must be held back for a year if they are at the lowest level of performance on statewide tests for reading proficiency. Schools must provide students with programs and special instruction to try to improve their performance.

Almost 16 percent of third-graders — roughly 4,000 students — failed to meet the legislation's standard for reading proficiency on the state's standardized test in the 2009-20120 school year.

The legislation provides exceptions for certain students, such as those with disabilities, from the requirement that they be held back. Students learning English, for instance, could advance to the fourth grade if they read proficiently in their native language, such as Spanish.

The bill passed the House on a 62-5 vote and was sent to the Senate for consideration.

Rep. Ray Begaye, a Shiprock Democrat and former third-grade teacher, said a mandatory retention policy will affect many Native American students because they typically have the lowest reading proficiency of any student group in New Mexico.

Schools must change how they deal with struggling students, he said.

"The biggest challenge ... is for a third-grade teacher who has to be very creative in their ability to get kids to read," he said.

House Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, questioned whether schools will have adequate money for programs necessary to boost the reading performance of students who are held back in the third grade.

Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, a Las Cruces Democrat who sponsored the measure, said schools can use their yearly allocation of federal aid for reading remediation programs.

The governor is modeling her education initiatives after Florida, which began a policy against social promotion of third-graders in 2002.

Martinez also advocates legislation to assign grades A-F to public schools, based mostly on student achievement; and for performance-based teacher pay. The governor supports granting a tax credit to those who make donations to groups providing scholarships for children to attend private or religious schools.



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