Social Promotion, School Report Card Bills Advance

Senator Clark Jolley has won approval from the Senate Education Committee for a pair of bills aimed at improving Oklahoma’s public schools.

Jolley said Senate Bill 346 would prohibit social promotion to better ensure children can actually read at grade level before moving to the next grade.

“Social promotion sets a child up for failure. Through the third grade, children are learning to read—after that, they read to learn. If they can’t read, they simply fall further behind,” said Jolley, R-Edmond. “Senate Bill 348 ends social promotion and provides remediation to get those children back on track for success.”

A second measure, Senate Bill 348, would require the State Department of Education to develop a report card for public schools.

“This will give parents and patrons a clear, concise way of seeing not just how the schools are performing based on the students’ scores, but whether those schools are succeeding in improving educational performance among those children who are ranked in the bottom quarter on their test scores,” Jolley said.

Jolley said both concepts had been applied successfully in Florida, and that these measures were aimed at improving accountability and academic success. SB 348 and SB 346 will now move to the full Senate for further consideration.

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