Flag garden, healing touch, parade ban lifted: News from around our 50 states
From USA TODAY Network and wire reports
Alabama
Montgomery: Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday vetoed legislation to delay next year’s requirement to hold back third graders who aren’t reading at grade level – a postponement lawmakers sought after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted classrooms. The veto means the promotion requirement will take effect at the end of the 2021-22 school year. The governor said it is “hasty and premature” to delay the requirement before education officials can review the newest test scores. “As a former teacher and even more so as governor, I believe early literacy is the gateway to all learning,” Ivey said in a statement. The Republican governor said she is asking the state superintendent to brief the public on spring test scores when available and for the Alabama Committee on Grade Level Reading to make recommendations regarding any future action. “Everyone agrees that the past 15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic have been hard on all Alabamians, including school personnel, students and parents. However, to establish any delay at all in the Alabama Literacy Act prior to analyzing the 2020-2021 summative assessment data for reading would be hasty and premature,” Ivey said.