LANSING – The Senate may see a bill forcing school districts to put more focus on elementary education, particularly reading, but its exact provisions are uncertain.

Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, will write the bill.

“School districts around the state are not focusing on elementary students sufficiently,” he said.

However, Kuipers has suggested a requirement to hold back students who don’t read at grade level. That idea drew harsh criticism from at least one education expert.

Joan Sergent, executive director of the Tri-County Alliance for Public Education, which represents school districts in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties, said such a mandate would prove detrimental.

That’s because students who are held back are more likely to slip farther behind and more likely to drop out, she said.

"Low-performing students who are retained lose ground to similar sets of students who are not retained," she said.

But Kuipers argues that fewer students would be held back if schools focused on teaching basic skills.

Sen. Gerald Van Woerkom, R-Norton Shores, opposes the requirement, although he acknowledged, "There are instances where retention can be successful."

But he predicts too many students would be held back.

"I think that number will increase," Van Woerkom said. "There will be a lot of third-graders who will, all of a sudden clutch, on that test."

Sergent also questioned the need for the legislation, saying public elementary schools already focus on basic skills.

"Rather than working back from high school, I would argue work forward from preschool and early-childhood education," she said.

And she said tools that would improve reading and other skills - programs targeted to the specific needs of the student – often are not available because schools lack the funds to pay for the staff to operate them.

The proposed bill also would require that schools provide supplemental services to help retained students catch up to grade level.