Gov. Susana Martinez's reading intervention, remediation, and retention bill ran into some snags Friday when members of the House Education Committee raised questions about the cost, the definition of proficiency and whether parents should maintain the right to decide to hold their children back a grade.

Nonetheless, the committee passed the bill on to the House Judiciary Committee after a lengthy discussion Friday afternoon, according to Rep. Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque, who chairs the committee.

HB 69, introduced by Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, D-Las Cruces, includes provisions for early reading assessments for kindergartners, the use of reading coaches and continual dialogue between teachers and parents regarding reading progress and intervention plans for students.

It also gives the state the right to retain a third-grader if he or she cannot read to grade level, which didn't sit well with a few members of the committee.

"What responsibility does the state have ... if a child is in a class where the teacher isn't that proficient in teaching reading?" asked Rep. Rhonda King, D-Stanley, during Friday's committee hearing.

She noted that although Garcia's bill includes six exceptions for students with learning disabilities or English-language learners, it does not necessarily provide for students who have difficult-to-define developmental challenges.

Citing a last-minute amendment that Garcia made to the bill that allows parents to appeal to a district if their child took part in all remediation efforts and had at least a 95 percent attendance record (suggesting that truancy was not part of the problem), Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque, said, "I like the idea that this opens up to parental participation."

Still, an appeal does not mean the parent will override the state, Stapleton said, telling Garcia that she prefers a similar social-promotion bill introduced by Rep. Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque.

Miera's House Bill 53 includes intervention and remediation for math as well as reading, and leaves the question of retention/social promotion up to parents. Miera said he hopes that bill is heard by the committee early next week.

Citing statistics indicating that 80 percent of New Mexico's fourth-grade students cannot read to grade level, the governor has made the reading remediation/retention bill a cornerstone of her education-reform policy.

Studies suggest that students who can't read by fourth grade face greater challenges down the road when it comes to collegiate and career planning; however, contrasting research notes that students who are held back at least a year have a higher risk of dropping out of school before graduation.

Last year, the House Education Committee and the House leadership passed a similar bill sponsored by Garcia and supported by the governor. That bill stalled on the Senate floor before the legislative session ended.

Public Education Department Secretary-Designate Hanna Skandera told the education committee last year that the program could be funded with federal dollars and a redistribution of state money.

But on Friday she said the bill will cost about $17 million and require school districts to foot much of the bill.

"How are the districts supposed to be able to afford this?" Miera asked Skandera, who sat beside Garcia during Friday morning's session.

Santa Fe Public Schools, for instance, estimates that in terms of extra teachers, educational assistants, tutors and materials, the plan would cost about $494,000.

Garcia and Skandera appeared to have support from Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Texico, who said Garcia's bill includes every possible step of intervention and remediation before retention will be considered.

Also supporting Garcia's bill were some members of the audience, including Laguna Pueblo Gov. Richard Luarkie, who said House Bill 69 puts "the solution before the problem."

"If we have standards for graduation, why don't we have standards for reading?" he said.

Parent Kathy Anderson told the committee she would not want the schools to advance her children if they were not able to read.

Opponents within the audience stood up as well, with Sharon Morgan, president of NEA-New Mexico, noting, "If students are retained and parents are not supportive of it, children will not be successful."

Miera said the education committee passed the bill on without Garcia's amendment.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com