Education Reform Bills Head To Fallin's Desk

The Legislature today sent two key education reform measures to Governor Fallin for her signature. Both reforms are part of State Superintendent Janet Barresi’s 3R Agenda.

Receiving final passage today were House Bill 1456, which assigns letter grades to schools in annual performance reports, and Senate Bill 346, which requires that third grade students be able to read at grade level before being advanced to fourth grade.

Said House Speaker Kris Steele: “Assigning letter grades to schools on annual performance reports makes schools more accountable to the public by making it easier to understand how the schools are performing. Schools are currently assigned a nondescript numeric performance score that is based on an overly-complex formula the public does not understand. Everyone knows letter grades, so the reforms in House Bill 1456 make evaluating schools easier for everyone.

“The foundation for all learning is reading. Advancing students who can’t read does not serve them well, nor does it serve the education system well. With Senate Bill 346, we are empowering students to continue their educations in productive ways and helping educators by sending them students who are prepared to learn.

“I am glad Reps. Lee Denney and Sally Kern displayed strong leadership on these issues.”

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