MISSION, KS (KCTV) -
A Kansas lawmaker is pushing for legislation that would require all Kansas schools to hold back students in the third grade if they struggle at reading.
The Pittsburg School District just southwest of Kansas City says holding back students isn't a bad idea, but they don't believe doing it in the third grade is the best idea.
School officials in Pittsburg enacted a policy last year to hold back middle school students who fail core classes.
Last year, 25 percent of students were failing at the middle school, Destry Brown, superintendent of the Pittsburg School District, said.
"Most of it is because of a lack of turning in work," Brown said. "Of those 25 percent, probably 98 percent of those were because they weren't handing in any work."
District officials say there is more that can be done than just holding back the child, including interventions with a student aid, and the policy implemented last year has already proven effective.
"If a student is failing core subject areas, they have the opportunity to go to summer school, they can go to after-school, they can do some recovery of their grades," Brown said. "Most of it is because of a lack of turning in work."
The education commission in the United States reports a number of states require third graders to read at a certain level before being allowed to move on to the fourth grade.
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