DELAFIELD, WI – Today, IRG Action CEO CJ Szafir responded to the Governor’s signing of Assembly Bill 321, the “Right to Read” bill.
“Literacy is the basic building block of democracy, prosperity, and a child’s future. Yet, for decades, adults in Wisconsin have failed to provide this bare-minimum education to students across the state. Our national reading ranking has been an ongoing disgrace.
Today, a bipartisan coalition said, ‘Enough.’ Right to Read takes significant steps to solve the literacy crisis and, overall, improves the status quo. IRG and IRG Action have spent three years advocating for many of the policies that have now become law: phonics-centric literacy, big improvements in how educators learn to teach, parental involvement, and early help for struggling students.
We applaud the hard work of Representative Kitchens, Speaker Vos, Senator Stroebel, and Senator Jagler. We thank the Department of Public Instruction, Governor Evers, and the Democrats who joined the majority for evolving to what’s working in other states.
IRG Action will continue to be a partner to parents, special needs advocates, and schools as the fight for literacy continues. Together, we will ensure that students improve, choice schools maintain their freedom, and Wisconsin lays claim to the best schools in the nation.”
IRG’s three-year campaign to improve childhood literacy includes:
- Get Right on Reading
- Explains why literacy has become a problem and provides solutions
- Ranking the Options: Nine Ways to Improve Literacy in Wisconsin
- Prioritizes solutions to improve literacy in Wisconsin
- Testimony
- Media
Have questions? Reach out to IRG Action Fund’s Alex Ignatowski at ai@reforminggovernment.org.