SB1012: Bill Text

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill requires the Department of Public Instruction to award grants to school districts and independent charter schools to assist with the financial costs of replacing poorly rated reading or language arts curriculum with high-quality core curricular materials. A grant recipient may use grant moneys to pay for the purchase of physical copies of curriculum or licenses for access to digital copies of curriculum and for initial professional development for teachers and support staff.

In awarding grants under the bill, DPI must give priority to applicants to which any of the following applies: 1) the applicant is currently using or implementing poorly rated curricular materials and is planning to replace those materials with high-quality materials; 2) the applicant is in chronically underperforming status; or 3) the total number of pupils enrolled in or attending the independent charter school or the public schools in the school district other than independent charter schools is fewer than 2,000. The bill specifies that DPI must give the highest priority to an applicant that is currently using certain poorly rated materials specified in the bill.

The bill requires the governor to allocate $3,000,000 of the moneys received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to DPI for the grants.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB1012,1 Section 1. Nonstatutory provisions.

SB1012,2,2 (1) Literacy acceleration grants.

SB1012,2,3 (a) In this subsection:

SB1012,2,4 1. “Department” means the department of public instruction.

SB1012,2,8 2. “High-quality core curricular materials" means comprehensive core curricular materials or reading foundational skills core curricular materials for teaching reading or language arts in any grade or grades from kindergarten to 12 that satisfy any of the following:

SB1012,2,11 a. A Massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education CURATE panel rates the curricular materials as “meets expectations" or “partially meets expectations" overall.

SB1012,2,14 b. If a rating under subd. 2. a . is not available, EdReports.org, Inc., rates the curricular materials as “all-green" or “meets expectations” on EdReports.org's alignment categories known as Gateway 1 and Gateway 2.

SB1012,3,2 (b) Of the moneys the governor accepts from the federal government under s. 16.54 pursuant to section 602 of the federal Social Security Act as amended by the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2, the governor shall allocate $3,000,000 to the department for grants under this subsection. From the moneys allocated to the department under this paragraph, the department shall, in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, award grants, in amounts determined by the department, to school boards and operators of charter schools under s. 118.40 (2r) and (2x) to assist with the financial costs of replacing poorly rated reading or language arts curriculum with high-quality core curricular materials.

SB1012,3,5 (c) In awarding grants under this subsection, the department shall give priority to a school board or the operator of a charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) to which any of the following applies:

SB1012,3,11 1. The school board or operator is currently using or implementing reading or language arts curricular materials that do not meet expectations for quality based on a 3rd-party review and is planning to replace such curricular materials with high-quality core curricular materials. The department shall give the highest priority to a school board or operator that is currently using any of the following materials:

SB1012,3,13 a. Fountas & Pinnell Classroom, published by Heinemann, for pupils in any grade from kindergarten to 5.

SB1012,3,15 b. Holt McDougal Literature, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for pupils in any grade from 6 to 12.

SB1012,3,17 c. Journeys, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for pupils in any grade from kindergarten to 6.

SB1012,3,19 d. Reach for Reading, published by National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning, for pupils in any grade from kindergarten to 6.

SB1012,3,21 e. Reading Street Common Core, published by Savvas Learning Company, formerly known as Pearson, for pupils in any grade from kindergarten to 6.

SB1012,3,23 f. Units of Study in Reading, Writing, and Phonics, published by Heinemann, for pupils in any grade from kindergarten to 5.

SB1012,3,25 g. Wonders, published by McGraw-Hill in 2017, for pupils in any grade from kindergarten to 2.

SB1012,4,2 2. The school board or operator is in chronically underperforming status as determined by the department.

SB1012,4,5 3. For a school board, the number of pupils enrolled in or attending public schools in the school district, other than charter schools under s. 118.40 (2r) and (2x), is fewer than 2,000.

SB1012,4,7 4. For an operator, the number of pupils enrolled in or attending the charter school is fewer than 2,000.

SB1012,4,9 (d) A recipient of a grant under this subsection may use the moneys awarded under this subsection only for the following costs:

SB1012,4,13 1. Costs to purchase physical copies of high-quality core curricular materials for participating classrooms and schools or licenses for access to digital copies of high-quality core curricular materials for up to 3 school years for participating schools.

SB1012,4,15 2. Costs for initial professional development for teachers and support staff to implement the high-quality core curricular materials.

SB1012,4,16 (End)