Reading-proficiency bill dies

A bill that would hold back young students who don't read well died in the House Friday.

HB84, sponsored by Rep. Karen Morgan, D-Cottonwood Heights, would halt social promotion for first- through third-graders reading below grade level, as determined through multiple assessments.

Schools would notify parents of struggling kids before mid-school year and offer intense personalized instruction to pull the children up so they don't have to be retained.

The bill would not apply to children learning English as a second language, special-education students and first- and second-graders who show a full year's growth.

Some 20 percent of Utah students in first- through third grades did not read on grade level according to last year's state CRT tests.

"This is a step toward a very serious problem," said Rep. Steve Mascaro, R-West Jordan.

Others felt the bill would intrude on local decisions.