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Michigan to Retain Children with Lead Poisoning

October 7, 2016 By Nancy Bailey 3 Comments

Post Views: 148

Michigan has a lead problem with its children in Flint, and a governor who failed badly his own accountability test. Many wonder why he is still governor. Some wonder why he isn’t in jail. But yesterday he signed off on a bill to fail third graders. How many children in Flint will wind up failing third grade due to the leaded water they drank? I’m guessing many.

So children fail, through no fault of their own, while the governor gets a pass. Fancy that.

I know there are exemptions to failing in Michigan, but that doesn’t excuse a rotten bill that highlights retention as something good.

We know that the fear of failing a grade for a child is on the same level as losing a parent. Once a child is humiliated by this action, they will have a difficult time ever fully recovering.

And children who fail third grade don’t do any better than those who are socially promoted, especially if those promoted get extra help.

So children who the State of Michigan failed by not protecting them—permitting the poisoning of their water—will now get a double whammy and get blamed for their school problems.

Let’s not forget children who don’t have lead poisoning, but, who, also through no fault of their own, have dyslexia or other learning disabilities.

Retention is punishment to children and it doesn’t work. We can’t forget that.

I don’t understand why legislators signed onto this bill. Don’t they realize the real research is against it? Have they bothered to read any of the studies? Anyone who claims retention works has obviously not done their homework.

Or, they are covering for their inability to create better programs. They have not sought other positive solutions of which there are many.

Or, they are just plain mean.

Children develop at different rates. Some make huge leaps after lagging behind. But when they are retained they can be so psychologically damaged that they forever see themselves as failures.

We know children who fail third grade have a much greater chance of dropping out of school. I have observed this in middle school where these children are bullied or become bullies due to their size.

Retention should be a rare occurrence with consideration of a wide range of circumstances. Parents and teachers should be the ultimate decision-makers and the child should be no older than kindergarten.

Even then, there are all kinds of alternative methods and placements that a school can do to assist a child without failing them.

Many solutions are also much less expensive than retention.

But instead of focusing on special programs that will positively assist children affected by the lead in their water, Michigan has failed its children once again.

One can only hope Michigan residents will vote these individuals out as soon as possible and reverse this decision.

 

 

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Failure, Governor Snyder, Michigan, Michigan Legislators, retention, third grade

Trackbacks

  1. 2016 Medley #25 – Live Long and Prosper says:
    October 12, 2016 at 9:09 am

    […] Michigan to Retain Children with Lead Poisoning […]

    Reply
  2. HEJE Overview 8-29-17: Environment + Illinois Update (Ed bill, Senate vote) says:
    August 29, 2017 at 6:21 am

    […] Governor of Michigan has signed off on a bill to fail 3rd-graders—at least some of whom have been poisoned by lead-poisoned water in […]

    Reply
  3. Betsy DeVos and Denying Flint’s Children Special Education says:
    November 20, 2017 at 1:17 pm

    […] Michigan to Retain Children with Lead Poisoning […]

    Reply

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Author, Ph.D. Ed. Leadership and longtime teacher, Blogging for Kids, Teachers, Parents & Democratic Public Schools.

NancyEBailey1
nancyebailey1 Nancy E. Bailey @nancyebailey1 ·
19h

What kind of school recess, supervised unstructured play, do your students get at school? Recess breaks should be several times a day. How's your State doing? https://nancyebailey.com/2022/06/22/the-state-of-school-recess-in-america-is-still-terrible/

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nancyebailey1 Nancy E. Bailey @nancyebailey1 ·
19h

K12 Inc. is now Stride? Why do Americans keep throwing $$$ at it? Parents need to educate themselves about the history of this online program.

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susanoha Susan Ohanian @susanoha ·
19h

Joanne Barkin wrote incisive article on wealthy foundation (Gates, Broad, Walton) work to control public ed. Here's reprint of a Dissent article:
http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1991

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hanna_hurley Hanna Hurley @hanna_hurley ·
3 Dec

@NancyEBailey1 Study consequences of such practice in ATL school system
35+ years ago….when students were retained by the hundreds, still didn’t make the required progress, many ended up in SpEd classes, students gave up, acted out, cut school, referred to juvenile facilities….Harmed.
SHAM!

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nancyebailey1 Nancy E. Bailey @nancyebailey1 ·
29 Nov

Kinderchat Guides to the Classroom is a kindergarten teacher's friend. Clearly written, teachers address problems, but advice is especially useful for understanding child development in the K classroom. #Kinderchat @hechternacht

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