MADISON — State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly released the following statement regarding a decision filed today in Dane County Circuit Court in favor of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The court ruled that 2023 Wisconsin Act 100, which provides funding for the DPI to support schools in implementing early literacy instruction, was constitutionally enacted. To date, the Wisconsin State Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance has not released nearly $50 million intended to support 2023 Wisconsin Act 20, which reimagines the way Wisconsin students are taught to read.
“The court ruled definitively that the funds meant to help kids learn to read, passed by a bipartisan majority, should be released. As educators and schools work to implement the requirements of Act 20 this school year, there is now no doubt the time has come for the Joint Committee on Finance to stop playing political games. The legislature needs to act and give our local schools the funding they were promised as they work to improve educational outcomes. Our kids need to learn to read, so they can read to learn. The time for delay has ended.”
NOTE: A photo for publication of Dr. Underly is available on the DPI’s website.
