Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is reportedly on track to sign a bill into state law that will allow public schools to hold back third grade students who aren’t reading at their grade level. The bill, which hits the Governor’s desk this week, is the result of months of wrangling over the terms under which students can be held back that has played out in the state’s House and Senate chambers.

The current bill features a provision allowing a pass for students who are new to a school and require time to catch up. But this version of the bill does not allow for a student’s reading teacher or principal to request an exemption for that child. At the same time, the bill does allow parents of students to request an exemption, so that their child can continue onto the fourth grade.

Upon passing of this bill, Michigan will join more than 16 other states that have in place similar laws—like Ohio’s “Third Grade Reading Guarantee.”

IMSE works with school districts throughout Michigan, Ohio, and the rest of the country, training K-3 teachers in its Orton-Gillingham-based reading instruction program. For more than twenty years, educators working with IMSE have discovered the power of systematic, multi-sensory reading instruction for students of all skill sets and abilities.

To learn more about IMSE training, please visit: https://orton-gillingham.com/training/

For more coverage of Michigan’s reading bill, please visit: 

http://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2016/09/21/third-grade-reading/90800246/