KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — To date, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment group members, parents, teachers, and community members sent more than 2,900 letters to the state legislature telling lawmakers the third-grade retention law was a bad idea.
Additionally, SOCM also distributed a petition that garnered more than 3,000 signatures from third-grade parents.
Two people who wrote letters, sent emails, and placed phone calls to lawmakers were Katherine Bike, from Knox County, and Jennifer Fagg, from Blount County.
"When I wrote the letter, I specifically wrote it to the representatives on the K-12 Subcommittee," Fagg said. "My biggest disappointment is I didn't hear back, not even an acknowledgment of my concerns."
Meanwhile, the state of Tennessee and the State Board of Education is calling the rollout of the third-grade retention law a "historic gain." Scores on the ELA portion of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program exam improved from last year by 4.3%.
"The ability to read at grade level determines a student’s success in the classroom and beyond, and we’re encouraged that our strategic literacy investments have already resulted in historic gains across the state,” Governor Bill Lee said in a press release from TDOE.
However, from a broader perspective, only around 40% of third-grade students scored proficient. Around 60% did not. So, more than half the third-graders are at risk of retention.
Both Fagg and Bike warned lawmakers about this result in their letters.
"I feel like I have talked until I'm blue in the face. I did everything except go physically to Nashville," Bike said. "I talked to many of our representatives face-to-face. Several of them said, 'Oh, you know, we're going to change it.' Others didn't really want to talk about it. And then there are others that are appalled and can't believe that this is happening."
She said she would love to have more conversations with lawmakers who aren't Democrats. Those lawmakers largely voted against the third-grade retention law.
Republican lawmakers, like Rep. Jason Zachary (R - Knoxville) stand by their vote, even upon seeing the outcome.
"We as the legislature took this step to raise the bar. And that's exactly what we've done," he said in a video posted on Twitter Tuesday. "We have taken significant steps forward in terms of third-grade reading level. COVID forced us to do this, we had these little third graders that have walked through such a nightmare with COVID. It disrupted their early education, they were being forced to wear masks. It significantly impacted their ability to read print, and to know how to pronounce their vowels."
Bike said the pandemic did have an effect on learning. However, being held back will be just another hurdle these students endure. Her son did not score proficiently enough on the TCAP. Now, he's at risk of retention.
"He is what they're calling, you know, a 'COVID kindergartener.' This is our first normal year. Last year, we were arguing about masks — it was anything but normal," Bike said. "So this is our first opportunity. And now he thinks he's going to be held back. He thinks he's dumb. And he's anything but that, and it's ridiculous."
Fagg's daughter did score proficiently enough. She was relieved.
"They really worked with these kids to get in prepared to not be afraid to take the test," Fagg said.
She said Blount County Schools gave students the opportunity to come in early for tutoring and test prep ahead of the TCAP test.
"Her school did it at 7 a.m. You could sign up to do tutoring to go over math and science. They did English Language Arts, which is where this law was coming from," Fagg said.
Other students in different districts didn't have that opportunity.
On Twitter, Rep. Jason Zachary said he had received about 12 emails from frustrated and confused parents. He told others to contact their lawmakers.
"If you got questions, call your legislator," he said.
But, both Bike and Fagg did.
"I emailed legislators over and over I made calls. I did all the things. No one returned my call," Bike said.
"I never got a response," Fagg said.
10News has been asking every school district in East Tennessee for a breakdown of their scores. Only Knox County and Cocke County responded with test data.
10News reached out to Blount County Schools several times over the past two weeks. They said they are working on sending that data to reporters.
Every other district is withholding their scores at the moment. Some county leaders said the state placed an embargo on the information.