Update on the Right to Read Bill (ACT 20)

By Shel Gross and Tracy Frank

The Racial Justice for All Children task force (RJAC), and specifically the Education Advocacy Group (EAG), has been learning that advocacy work requires time, long-term commitment, nuanced inspection, and connections. Over the past few years, a lot has happened in the state and in our local community in the area of reading. In Wisconsin, fewer than 40% of students are proficient in reading by the end of third grade, and Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) has been hovering around that 40% as well.

In the summer of 2023, EAG worked to support the adoption of legislation that is now called ACT 20. This article traces a bit of the progress, and also the lack of progress, related to ACT 20, which is otherwise known as the Right to Read bill. RJAC lead Shel Gross, a longtime registered lobbyist in Wisconsin, knew that while the signing of that bill on July 19, 2023, was significant, it was not the end of our advocacy work. The good news was that the MMSD was ahead of the law and had adopted a science of reading-based curriculum that met the requirements of ACT 20 a couple of years earlier. Other area districts, including Sun Prairie Area School District (SPASD), had not made the required changes, so work there had to be done quickly. 

EAG was eager to do advocacy work to help implement the bill. This included advising on the hiring of a new UW-Madison School of Education dean, who will support the training required for new educators. It also involved connecting with Barb Novak, the new Department of Public Instruction (DPI) literacy director. 

EAG has been in communication with both MMSD and SPASD to help ensure that they are following Act 20’s requirements for keeping parents informed and for developing personal reading plans for students who are not yet proficient in reading. 

We kept a close eye on the work of the Early Literacy Curriculum Council (ELCC), which was charged with identifying literacy curriculum that would be eligible for state financial support, and we recognized their final approval of four comprehensive, knowledge-based curricula. However, while reviewing one of those curricula, Amplify CKLA, which was chosen by SPASD, EAG lead Tracy Frank and others living in the Sun Prairie community, as well as statewide Indigenous organizations, found serious concerns: that the knowledge-based components of the curriculum center history from a white male European perspective. When we asked the ELCC why this curriculum was approved, given these concerns, the ELCC reported that its criteria for approval did not include reviewing the content of the required knowledge components. 

In response to the Sun Prairie community’s concerns, the district created a committee to review and modify the newly purchased curriculum. This work was deeper and more costly than expected, and many outside consultants were involved. In the past few years, SPASD has been in the news for concerns about curriculum violence (i.e., when the curriculum used causes harm) and discipline decisions that are harmful to Black and brown students. As a result, EAG has met with district leaders and voiced concerns in multiple position statements to the district.

Now, EAG, with support from MOSES, has gone back to DPI and the ELCC with concerns that the CKLA curriculum does not meet another law, ACT 31. This law relates to American Indian education and also states that school districts must provide adequate instructional materials which reflect the cultural diversity and pluralistic nature of American society. While we are not yet assured that the review of curricula will have increased standards, there may be a trailer bill in the next budget cycle that EAG can engage in. The concern about the knowledge-based components of the curriculum was not on our radar as this process began, but it is well within the scope of MOSES’s work, because it impacts students’ sense of belonging: Do they see themselves in the content of their studies?

In addition, since the approval of ACT 20, the $50 million promised for reading coaches and reimbursement to districts purchasing curricula from the ELCC list has been held up in lawsuits and politics. The Joint Finance Committee has not released the money to date, which is also a big area of concern. 

At this time, EAG is eager to connect with parents in the community to help ensure that they are aware of the new expectations for personalized reading plans if their child is struggling. We are continuing our connection with the above school districts and all the statewide entities involved, as well as increasing our connections with other advocacy groups, so that we are prepared for future advocacy opportunities. 

We are optimistic for improved reading proficiency in our state, while we also know that there is much work to be done. We are currently looking for more people to join MOSES’s Education Advocacy Group, so that we can continue engaging in immediate advocacy as well as be ready to have a larger impact as opportunities arise. 

We encourage all within MOSES to know that while advocacy work is slow and the nuances can be very frustrating and confusing, there is good reason to stay strong, work together, and continue to press ahead with what will have the biggest impact. RJAC’s goal is to eradicate the school-to-prison pipeline, and we know that reading scores have a large impact on a student’s willingness to engage positively in the school environment. Keeping kids in the classroom and learning will help to keep them out of our prison system, and with that mission in mind, we march on together to a brighter future.