SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) New Mexico's top education official says Gov. Susana Martinez won't stop pushing for legislation to hold back third-graders who can't read at grade level. Public Education secretary Hanna Skandera vowed that she and Martinez will be “back in full force'' to push the proposal in 2014. The Legislature has rejected the plan for the past two years.
Skandera's comments came at the end of a full day of hearings Wednesday by a legislative study committee about best reading practices, remediation, retention and intervention policies for students. The committee reviews policies and will draft bills for the upcoming legislative session, which opens in January.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports about 22 percent of third-graders in the 2011-2012 class risked being retained if the proposed policies had been in place.
