Concerns with your child’s reading may be addressed earlier thanks to a new bill being pushed by people with Door County ties.

With Rep. Joel Kitchens serving as its Vice-Chair, the Assembly Committee on Education held a public hearing on Tuesday discussing Assembly Bill 446 replacing the current way school districts address literacy. The current annual reading readiness assessment would be replaced by a three-tiered approach for students in 4K through second grade. The hope is by assessing literacy more often, they could prevent more kids from falling behind in their reading skills. School boards would be then required to create a personal reading plan for those students falling behind.

Kari Baumann of Baileys Harbor testified in favor of the bill, rehashing her son’s own battle with dyslexia and the improvements he has made since he got the help he needed. Baumann told the committee she spent thousands of dollars and 18 weeks away from home just so her son could make up for lost time with his reading skills. She told the committee a lot could have been different if this bill was a law sooner. Several organizations support the bill including the Decoding Dyslexia Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Reading Coalition.

The bill does have its opponents including the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, and the Wisconsin Association of School Administrators. They say the bill is unfunded in order to be able to pay for the extra staffing and resources necessary.