Crandi

Opinion Should Utah Hold Back Students Who Can T Read Deseret News

Leo Migdal
-
opinion should utah hold back students who can t read deseret news

In my public school years, I knew a guy who was a year older than me. We were in the same class because somewhere in the early grades, he had been held back a year. I was aware of this, although I can no longer remember how I knew it. I didn’t know the exact reason he was held back, or the subjects for which he was held back. It never mattered to me. We were friends and that was good enough.

The subject didn’t come up. This probably sounds very old-fashioned to today’s school-age generation (we were also paddled occasionally by the principal, but that’s another column for a different time). I didn’t grow up in Utah, but schools here and in most of the nation have, for years now, automatically passed kids to the next grade, regardless of how well they mastered subjects in... My ears perked last Tuesday when Gov. Spencer Cox told the Deseret News editorial board he would urge the Legislature next month to implement “retention,” as it’s known, for Utah third graders who haven’t learned to read on grade level. Christine is the co-founder of the Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation.

She is the mother of five children and grandmother to seven children. Reading is no longer intuitive. We reach for phones instead of books. Less than half of Utah’s third grade students (48%) are reading on grade level, an astounding fact published by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. One out of two children in the state of Utah cannot read proficiently.

For the past five years, that percentage has basically remained steady. Out of Utah’s 852 public schools this year, the Utah State Board of Education celebrated 60 schools that have achieved a reading rate of 70%. While this is a positive trend, all of our schools should at the very least hit this minimum requirement. This quiet reading crisis in our state and across the nation will eventually explode into unskilled workers faced with limited possibilities. National data shows that only 31% of students are reading at or above grade level. An illiterate population will cost our state and our nation financially and fundamentally.

Life will change for all of us if more than half our citizens can no longer read. A literate workforce has long been the propelling force of America’s middle class. Our democracy relies on literate people who can think and reason for themselves. Impending AI and illiteracy is a combination that will be difficult to weather. In my public school years, I knew a guy who was a year older than me. We were in the same class because somewhere in the early grades, he had been held back a year.

I was aware of this, although I can no longer remember how I knew it. I didn’t know the exact reason he was held back, or the subjects for which he was held back. It never mattered to me. We were friends and that was good enough. The subject didn’t come up. This probably sounds very old-fashioned to today’s school-age generation (we were also paddled occasionally by the principal, but that’s another column for a different time).

I didn’t grow up in Utah, but schools here and in most of the nation have, for years now, automatically passed kids to the next grade, regardless of how well they mastered subjects in... My ears perked last Tuesday when Gov. Spencer Cox told the Deseret News editorial board he would urge the Legislature next month to implement “retention,” as it’s known, for Utah third graders who haven’t learned to read on grade level. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox launched a campaign on Wednesday to boost the state’s stubbornly low third grade reading scores by hiring more teaching assistants and holding more students back who don’t read at grade level. This carrot-and-stick approach mirrors some of the policies that are reportedly behind the “Mississippi Miracle,” which took the state from the bottom of national elementary literacy rankings to the top 10 over the past...

“We’ve implemented some of the things that have happened in Mississippi. We need to implement the rest of those things and get everybody pulling together,” Cox said at the presentation of his Fiscal Year 2027 budget. The governor announced his multipronged literacy proposal at the Kearns Branch of the Salt Lake County Library on Wednesday before surprising local children by leading the library story time with first lady Abby Cox. In addition to trying to reverse Utah’s spike in chronic homelessness and the state’s shortage of affordable homes, Cox said his 2026 agenda will center around a “huge literacy push” aimed at young elementary... (Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) A shelf of books labeled "Banned in Utah" at Ken Sanders bookstore at the Leonardo in Salt Lake City. on Tuesday, Sept.

6, 2022. There’s much ado about nothing in the Utah Legislature’s Education Committee again. Allegedly, they want to protect children — a noble cause, at least superficially. But the danger? Imagined sewers of pornographic filth bubbling up in school libraries. Their proposed solution?

Make it even easier for a small minority to control what everyone else’s children can read in the name of “parent’s rights.” One of my students was killed in January 2022 because another student brought a gun to a fistfight. The gun was loaded with hollow point bullets, not books. Tell me again how books are the problem? Jay Evensen is the Deseret News' senior editorial columnist. He's been a member of the Deseret News editorial board since 1994, following an 11-year career as a reporter for news organizations in New York City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.

His awards include the Cameron Duncan Award, presented each year in Washington for outstanding reporting of issues related to global poverty. I had a conversation recently with a mom whose homeschooled son had just experienced a major breakthrough. As a student on the spectrum, asking for help was a big barrier for him, causing him to get stuck while doing school work. Through equine therapy, he found his voice. Another mom shared with me that her small business had gone under after the pandemic and she almost had to pull her children out of the microschool where they were thriving. But at the last minute, they were able to stay.

A few months ago, I watched a previously shy student stand before a room of 600 and talk about his education at a high quality private school and his future plans for college. What changed the game for each of them? The Utah Fits All Scholarship. Utah families have been using this scholarship for just under a year now, and the reaction I most frequently get when I ask them how it’s going is tears of joy and gratitude. Learning is supposed to be a joyful experience as children follow their curiosity, dig for knowledge, explore the world through books and nature, and decide which life and career paths intrigue them. But for many forced into an education system that doesn’t fit, learning has increasingly become a frustration.

Across Utah, communities are confronting a growing question: Will we treat our public schools as cost centers or as civic anchors? Declining enrollment, aging facilities and shifting budgets are testing the values that define our state’s commitment to education. Granite School District now finds itself at the center of that test, facing a decision that extends beyond one neighborhood: a choice that could dismantle a model of excellence and send ripples through generations. What’s at stake is not just the future of one school but also the direction of public education across Utah. Eastwood Elementary is not a school in need of rescuing. It’s a school worth defending.

For more than 60 years, Eastwood has been the heartbeat of Millcreek, where generations return to give back to the community that raised them. Grandparents who once walked its halls now watch their grandchildren learn in the same classrooms. Teachers who once inspired parents now teach their children. Eastwood is where legacies are built and where belonging still means something. This is not a story of decline. It’s a story of excellence, resilience and a community that refuses to let bureaucracy erase its beating heart.

People Also Search

In My Public School Years, I Knew A Guy Who

In my public school years, I knew a guy who was a year older than me. We were in the same class because somewhere in the early grades, he had been held back a year. I was aware of this, although I can no longer remember how I knew it. I didn’t know the exact reason he was held back, or the subjects for which he was held back. It never mattered to me. We were friends and that was good enough.

The Subject Didn’t Come Up. This Probably Sounds Very Old-fashioned

The subject didn’t come up. This probably sounds very old-fashioned to today’s school-age generation (we were also paddled occasionally by the principal, but that’s another column for a different time). I didn’t grow up in Utah, but schools here and in most of the nation have, for years now, automatically passed kids to the next grade, regardless of how well they mastered subjects in... My ears pe...

She Is The Mother Of Five Children And Grandmother To

She is the mother of five children and grandmother to seven children. Reading is no longer intuitive. We reach for phones instead of books. Less than half of Utah’s third grade students (48%) are reading on grade level, an astounding fact published by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. One out of two children in the state of Utah cannot read proficiently.

For The Past Five Years, That Percentage Has Basically Remained

For the past five years, that percentage has basically remained steady. Out of Utah’s 852 public schools this year, the Utah State Board of Education celebrated 60 schools that have achieved a reading rate of 70%. While this is a positive trend, all of our schools should at the very least hit this minimum requirement. This quiet reading crisis in our state and across the nation will eventually exp...

Life Will Change For All Of Us If More Than

Life will change for all of us if more than half our citizens can no longer read. A literate workforce has long been the propelling force of America’s middle class. Our democracy relies on literate people who can think and reason for themselves. Impending AI and illiteracy is a combination that will be difficult to weather. In my public school years, I knew a guy who was a year older than me. We w...