INDIANAPOLIS — On Monday afternoon, lawmakers in the House debated proposed changes to a bill that addresses helping Indiana’s second and third graders read better.
Democratic lawmakers in the House offered several amendments, among them a proposed change that would have eliminated altogether mandatory retention that’s part of Senate Bill 1.
Another amendment would have delayed the retention part of the bill until the 2025-2026 school year.
If Senate Bill 1 becomes law, the provisions in it would kick in July 1, including holding students back who don’t pass the IREAD test by the end of third grade.
Another change proposed by Democratic lawmakers would have excluded students who are still learning English from being held back if they couldn’t pass the reading test.
Under Senate Bill 1, students who fail the state’s reading test in 2nd or 3rd grade would be required to attend summer school to help with their reading.
The retention part of the bill has been what has caused the most debate.
“This is not the appropriate time to retain kids. If you want to retain kids, I understand we got to get them to learn to read. It’s a crisis, but it’s kindergarten or first grade,” said Rep. Tonya Pfaff, D-District 43, who herself is a high school teacher.
“We know that reading is the foundation of all other learning, so if we can’t get this right, a student needs to be retained,” said Rep. Jake Teshka, R-District 7.
In the end, many of the proposed amendments did not pass.