(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
Oklahoma lawmakers adopted a policy to curtail the social promotion of children failing to acquire basic literacy skills by the end of the 3rd grade. Oklahoma lawmakers adopted a special needs choice program last year, and are considering a scholarship tax credit program and other far-reaching reforms this year. Oklahoma has got major K-12 reform mojo!
The Foundation for Excellence in Education will be releasing a policy brief on retention soon. Congrats to Oklahoma’s K-12 reformers in joining Florida, New York City, Arizona and Indiana in adopting this tough-love policy. Now comes the hard part: policy implementation. The Devil is in the details on this reform, and others have botched it in the past. Yes, I’m looking at you Georgia…
I spent a few days in Oklahoma recently, and their reformers struck me as resolved, fearless and capable. That’s good, because that is what will be needed to see this policy through.
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