The first major step of 2023 Wisconsin Act 20 (“Right to Read Act”) was made this week, as reported by WCRIS in Monday’s Special Edition of Current Events. To cut through the reading ruckus, see a summary of the latest developments and next steps:
The latest: Despite multiple lists, rumblings of possible legal action and differing opinions across the political aisle, the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) approved the Wisconsin Early Literacy Curriculum Council’s list of four recommended curricula eligible for up to 50% reimbursement for public, charter and choice schools, as required by law.
Read the details here, which includes the four curricula recommendations as submitted by the council. The DPI will post the official list on its website.
The JFC chose the council’s list of four curricula over the DPI’s list of 11. Read the DPI’s statement here.
And earlier this month, the DPI updated the choice school section in its Act 20 FAQ, clarifying some questions that WCRIS has brought to the DPI on behalf of our schools.
It doesn’t include any additional requirements for choice schools that WCRIS hasn’t communicated. It now also clearly states that non-choice private schools are not subject to Act 20, nor can they participate in the grant program. WCRIS thanks the department for the update and clarification. Read it here in the second-to-last question.
Next steps: Now that the recommended curricula list has been approved, the DPI will establish the reimbursement grant program process, which the law had set to begin in January 2024. Simultaneously, administrative rules will need to be written by the department to implement all the other provisions of Act 20. WCRIS has asked the DPI for an update on the rule process, but doesn’t have one at the time of publication.
As previously reported, the Superintendent of Public Instruction did ask the legislature to extend the law’s deadlines as the department attempts to tackle the extensive scope of the law. That request was sent to the governor’s desk by the Senate earlier this week. The deadline in question affects the timeline for administration of literacy screeners, which isn’t required of choice schools.
What you can do: If you’ve identified that your choice school’s current K-3 curriculum incorporates three-cueing* (which is prohibited in public, charter and choice schools under Act 20) and/or would like to potentially receive a grant to help with the cost of purchasing new curricula, you can start researching the four options.
Please note that the fourth option includes two programs from different organizations that seemingly have to be used in tandem to be considered an “approved” curriculum.
It’s important to remember that your choice school can use any curriculum it wishes, as long as it doesn’t include three-cueing, as defined by the law. You only need to choose from the list if you’d like to potentially receive a grant. It’s not mandatory.
The law outlines that the grants will be equal to 50% of schools’ cost of purchasing approved curriculum. But if the amount of requests exceeds the amount of money that’s been appropriated ($50 million), the DPI will prorate the awards among all recipients. (Wis. Stat. § 118.015(1m)(c)).
Because of this, and since details about the grant program are not yet known, it may be difficult to budget for how much your school could receive via the reimbursement grant.
The legislature could allocate more money for this purpose in the future, but that can’t be guaranteed.
The governor also recently signed a bill that would increase the funding for “literacy” at the DPI. The original bill intended to appropriate funds for literacy coaching, as part of Act 20. But the governor exercised his veto pen, striking out “coaching,” leaving the funds for the DPI’s Office of Literacy to use more generally for literacy programs.
WCRIS will continue to communicate updates as they’re available. Read all of WCRIS’ reporting on Act 20 here.
* “‘Three-cueing’ means any model, including the model referred to as meaning, structure, and visual cues, or MSV, of teaching a pupil to read based on meaning, structure and syntax, and visual cues or memory.” (Wis. Stat. § 118.015(1c)(c)).
