State Rep. Jaime Greene today expressed deep concern over the results of the 2024 Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP).

The data, released this week, shows a troubling decline in student proficiency across key areas, with less than 40% of Michigan third graders passing the state’s English language arts (ELA) test, a 10-year low. In addition, about 70% of Michigan sixth graders failed to reach proficiency in math.

“The fact that more than 60% of our third graders can’t read should sound an alarm,” said Greene, R-Richmond. “These are the kids who were just beginning to learn how to read when the schools were shut down during the pandemic. Now, we are seeing the long-term consequences of those decisions. The failure to address the learning loss these children suffered has led to these devastating results. It’s clear the status quo isn’t working. Our students are struggling, and if we don’t fix this now, it will haunt them for the rest of their lives.”

Greene emphasized that this is a major issue that has been going on for years and has since been exacerbated when Michigan’s schools were closed during the COVID-19 lockdowns and the subsequent lack of effective measures to help students catch up made the situation even more dire.

“These test results are an indictment of the education policies before, during, and since the pandemic,” Greene said. “A failure to adapt has done immeasurable harm to an entire generation of our kids. We owe it to our children to do better. It is time for real change, not just more band-aid policies that bloat systemic issues that got us here.”

Greene, who serves at the Republican vice chair of the House Education Committee, is calling for action to improve the current approach to education in Michigan.

“We need to stop pretending that what we’re doing is working. It’s not,” Greene said. “We must prioritize real, effective solutions that give our kids the foundation they need to succeed. Reading is not something to be political about, we need to come together and fix this. Our students deserve better, and we have a responsibility to ensure they get it.”

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