Last week a State Representative Scott Allen and State senator Romaine Quinn introduced a bill that builds on a law passed last session that required public school boards to annually assess the reading readiness of four-K through second grade students and give help to any students needing it. This new bill requires public school boards to report to the Department of Public Instruction the number of pupils at risk of reading difficulty by January one of each school year. DPI must then give that information to the state legislature by April first.

The old adage is still true. In the early grades students learn to read so that they can read to learn as they progress in their education. Accountability for reading readiness is appropriate at a time when too many government schools are showing declining scores in reading proficiency across the board. It will be interesting to see if Governor Evers agrees to this accountability.