Missouri educators push back on bill forcing struggling readers to repeat 3rd grade

By: Annelise Hanshaw

Outlets: Missouri Independent

Published: April 14, 2026

Words: 633

Last Updated: 2 months, 2 weeks ago

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State Rep. Cathy Joy Loy, a Republican from Carthage, said her bill seeking to automatically retain Missouri third-grade students who are struggling to read is a “tourniquet” to “stop the bleed of children who are not reading.”

But speaking to the Senate Education Committee Tuesday morning, school administrators said literacy rates are showing improvement three years into the state’s implementation of a teacher training program on phonics-based reading instruction. Loy’s bill, they argue, could disrupt …

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