It’s been a busy week for WCRIS’ lobbyists!
In case you missed it, Democrat Gov. Tony Evers and Republicans Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos announced last week that they reached a major deal that, among other things, mainly addressed shared revenue and education funding.
Part of that deal allocates a proposed $50 million for reading reform. Proposed Senate Bill 329 and its companion Assembly Bill 321 outline that the money would be used to ensure Wisconsin schools are teaching phonics, sometimes referred to as the “science of reading.”
Though WCRIS recognizes the need for reading reform and would like to support this initiative, WCRIS opposed the current proposal at the Assembly Committee on State Affairs hearing scheduled for today. The committee is bogged down by reviewing alcohol legislation into the evening and is just getting to its hearing on the reading bill. It includes a dangerous provision that schools participating in the choice programs would have to use curriculum recommended by the DPI if they were to adopt an early literacy policy.
WCRIS exists to protect its member schools from this very type of bureaucratic overreach.
Recall the backlash against the Common Core State Standards. The effort was initially uncontroversial and supported by then-Gov. Scott Walker and many of our schools. But its “one-size-fits-all” approach became so incendiary that everybody turned against it. It’s now a cautionary tale.
As the reading bill is currently written, schools participating in the choice programs are included in some requirements, like using DPI-recommended curriculum, but not all of the requirements. Non-choice, private schools are not mentioned.
Our schools’ ability to educate their students in accordance to their unique missions and values is exactly why parents choose them. Without this autonomy, choice schools may be forced to decide between educating children in need or sacrificing their beliefs.
Modeled after Mississippi’s legislation, the bill calls for state-wide literacy coaches; consistent student assessments; personalized interventions; retention of third-graders who don’t meet a specific reading threshold; overhaul of collegiate teacher preparation programs; training and retraining of current teachers; prohibition of certain reading strategies; and a mandate to use DPI-recommended literacy curriculum that emphasize phonics instruction.
The DPI, for its part, has said the retention measure is a non-starter and has opposed the legislation. WCRIS’ education reform colleagues are finally getting on board with opposing the bill as well. Up until now, the desire to increase the vouchers has averted many people’s gaze.
For example, WCRIS has been virtually alone in opposing a crime reporting measure for voucher schools. WCRIS’ opposition was partially successful in that it has been moderated. But it still overburdens principals with yet another bureaucratic requirement. Another proposal would require voucher schools to stock Narcan onsite and be prepared to administer it when needed. WCRIS raised several important questions about the logistics of the proposed bill. Neither provide funding nor training.
A push for more phonics instruction has been around for decades. Likely first made popular by the book “Why Johnny Can’t Read,” states only recently have adopted policies similar to SB 329 and AB 321 after the “Mississippi Miracle” where the state drastically – and quickly – improved its students’ reading scores, beginning in 2013. Still, it took 10 years!
For that reason, long ago WCRIS began following the movement in other states with the help of the Council for American Private Education (CAPE). WCRIS correctly anticipated a similar effort in Wisconsin.
There are other ways for the Legislature to improve reading scores without mandating curriculum, which WCRIS suggested at the end of its testimony. Read it here.
WCRIS is also supporting the voucher increase as it rapidly moves through the state capitol. Though legislative leaders have indicated that they support the voucher increase, the Legislature still has to vote on it. WCRIS will update you as soon as a decision is made.
And the WCRIS Health and Safety Grant proposal is still in play. It’s desirable because it requires no strings nor triggers governmental overreach. Further, it is a good use of one-time funding from the state’s budget surplus.
There are many headlines and rumors circulating as victory is prematurely declared. Things are moving quickly in the Legislature. But chickens should not be counted before they’re hatched.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office. We’re happy to explain what we’re seeing and hearing at the capitol and how that could impact your school. We’re here to serve!
