Rep. Joel Kitchens hopes his new bill will help your kids read better quicker in the future.

Along with State Senator Duey Stroebel of Cedarburg, the Right to Read Act hopes to find struggling readers sooner and place them on the right track to improve their skills while training new teachers to help in the process. In 2022, Stroebel said that nearly 70 percent of Wisconsin 4th graders were not reading at their grade level, which is the worse it has been since 1998. Kitchens says by transitioning to the Science of Reading, which focuses more on the sounds of letters than words, they can start reversing the trend.

Kitchens and Strobel introduced the new bill on Thursday and they are currently looking for co-sponsors. Governor Tony Evers vetoed a similar bill last year, citing the lack of funding for the parts of the program. Kitchens gave credit to Door County residents Kari Baumann and Jeanne Schopf for their roles in advocating for better reading practices.