Social promotion — the practice of graduating a student to the next grade despite substandard achievement — may come to an end in New Mexico schools if legislation introduced by representatives Mary Helen Garcia, D-Las Cruces, and Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell, is passed into law.

But teachers and school administrators raised questions Wednesday about the potential costs for programs to help students who are held back.

House Bills 21 and 100 are being amended and linked for a discussion and possible vote at Friday's House Education Committee meeting. Both bills would ensure that students who can't demonstrate reading proficiency at the end of the third grade won't be promoted to the fourth grade — even if the students' parents protest.

On Wednesday, the committee heard arguments for and against passage of the bills, with Education Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera arguing that "enough is enough" when it comes to social promotion.

"We have a lot of students who are not able to read," she told the committee, noting that about 80 percent of the state's fourth-graders are not proficient.

But Skandera and the committee face some pressing questions.

Even those who expressed public support for the idea said that without financial support for reading remediation programs, the retention approach will fail. The bills make each district responsible for that funding.

Tom Sullivan, head of the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators, said he approves of the plan but expects it will cost "serious dollars."

Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, went even further, noting that, "Retention as a policy without remediation does a lot of harm" that will "set our kids up for failure."

The social-promotion legislation, which reflects just one aspect of Gov. Susana Martinez's education-reform plan, is a direct borrow from a large-scale, multipoint educational-reform movement that Florida initiated some 10 years ago. Skandera was deputy commissioner of education under Florida Gov. Jeb Bush from 2005-2007.

Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque, continually pressed Skandera regarding funding for the plan and the need to place additional emphasis on students in high-poverty schools who may not be able to read because of external influences. She cited reports suggesting retention can have a negative impact on some students, and repeatedly referred to the measure as "punitive."

The committee chairman, Rep. Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque, noted that Florida had committed more than $100 million in annual funding specifically for its reading program.

Skandera said New Mexico can find money to support the program through existing federal sources, including Reading First, Title 1 and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act) funds totaling some $225 million. This money "can be spent," she said. "It can be a choice. It's not OK to have $225 million coming annually to New Mexico and not have our children read."

Skandera and Espinoza touted the successful reading-remediation program initiated in the Floyd Municipal School District by Superintendent Paul Benoit. Now in its fifth year, the program is credited with moving 80 percent of its student participants into the proficiency range.

To be successful, Benoit told the assemblage, the district had to make sacrifices, including not replacing a departing teacher in order to hire a reading coach to work one-on-one with struggling students. About 60 of the district's 240 students are in the remedial reading program in Floyd.

Other states, including Kansas and Oregon, are considering similar social-promotion policies to increase reading scores.

But while Florida touts its success — its illiteracy rate among third-graders has dropped from roughly 30 percent in 2000 to about half of that over several years — some studies suggest retention only pays off in the short run in terms of developing reading skills.

A 2008 study of the Florida program conducted over the course of four years by the Miami Dade County Public Schools indicates that, over time, students held back a grade often see a drop in self-esteem and even reading skills by the time they enter high school.

A 2010 Education Week article called retention benefits "fleeting."

After the hearing, Stapleton said she isn't against the bills per se. She just wants to see amendments addressing her specific concerns — including how to involve parents in the process. But she questioned Skandera's claims that there is money in the system to apply to retention/remediation.

"If we have all these millions of dollars that she says we have from the federal government, why is this program not being done now?" she said.

Espinoza, however, said she believes Skandera is correct about existing federal funds. "If there is flexibility in using that money — and we will hear about this on Friday — we just have to be smart in how we use it," she said.

Espinoza said she is confident the bill will pass, but she doesn't want to see it watered down in terms of giving parents an "opt-out" to reject retention.

After the meeting, Skandera said opponents' concerns and questions are healthy for the "dialogue and debate," and she reiterated her belief that funding can be found. "It's not going to be easy," she said. "But it is going to be necessary."

The House Education Committee plans to discuss the bill at 8 a.m. Friday in Room 317 at the Roundhouse.

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