In Michigan, it’s known as the “read or flunk” law. It goes into effect this year, four years after the Legislature mandated that students will flunk if they aren’t reading well as third-graders.

The Michigan Department of Education expects that about 5 percent of third-graders, more than 5,000 students, may be held back to repeat the grade because of low reading skills.

Under former Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida began a policy of mandatory retention for poor readers in 2002. In the years since, 18 states followed with similar rules.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced an education bill that would add Alaska to that list starting next school year. “A student in grade three should demonstrate sufficient reading skills to progress to grade four,” according to House Bill 204 and Senate Bill 151.

This proposal will be controversial and many legislators will oppose a mandatory plan for flunking based on state law and reading scores. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bills are amended to strip this language and make flunking subject to parental approval.

Reading is an essential skill and there is universal agreement that improvement is needed.

Much of the rest of the bill will not be as controversial, as it calls for expanded early education opportunities, more pre-K, and more help for schools where students are not doing well, which are actions that should help students.

The section about flunking says a student can meet the standard to pass third grade by scoring above the lowest achievement level on a statewide reading assessment, getting an acceptable score on an alternative test approved by the state or showing skills with a reading portfolio.

Disabled students, students learning English as a second language and those who have already been held back while receiving special help for two or more years may qualify for a “good cause” exemption from the local school board.

Four months before the end of the school year, the parents should get notice if their third-grader is in danger of flunking, the bill says. The family of the “candidate for non-progression” would have to be told of the flunking decision a month before the end of the school year.

Kids who are flunked would be required to receive “intensive reading intervention services to remedy the student’s specific reading deficiency.”

The bill calls for “a plan for at-home reading outlined in a parental contract, including participation in parent training workshops and regular parent-guided home reading activities.” That sounds like an idea that will be very difficult to implement.

As I wrote here last week, I am worried that some people regard flunking third-graders as an easy way to get higher fourth-grade scores for Alaska on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

One of the fiscal notes attached to the education bill estimates that 10 to 20 reading specialists would be hired for the first year and 20 to 40 in the second year. But it doesn’t appear that the full costs to schools have been calculated or included in that document