Senate votes to end social promotion; second measure would give schools a letter grade

State Sen. Clark Jolley won full Senate approval Monday for legislation to end social promotion in Oklahoma’s public schools. Senate Bill 346 was approved on a vote of 36 to 8. While critics of the bill said holding children back would stigmatize them, Jolley countered promoting children who cannot read is a recipe for failure.

“Every child has the ability to succeed—but they cannot succeed if they cannot read. Too often in Oklahoma, we promote those children to the next grade anyway, and they fall further behind every year,” said Jolley, R-Edmond. “Instead, we need to end social promotion and provide remediation to get those children back on track for success. That’s what SB 346 does.”

Jolley also won support Monday for Senate Bill 348, which would give public schools a letter grade to show parents how those schools are doing. SB 348 was approved 30-14.

“There’s absolutely no cost to the taxpayers. Our schools are already required to release reports showing what kind of job they’re doing educating our children,” Jolley said. “The problem is those scores are difficult for parents and patrons to interpret. Letter grades, like children get on their report cards, will dramatically simplify the process and improve transparency.”

SB 346 and SB 348 will now move to the House for further consideration.