After two-year delay, school districts will finally get money meant for reading instruction

GREENDALE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- There is long awaited relief for school districts across Wisconsin that have been waiting for state aid after adopting new reading curriculums two years ago.

The two-year state budget Gov. Tony Evers signed in the early morning hours last Thursday includes the remaining $46 million of a $50 million pot dedicated to reimbursing districts for the efforts related to a new reading law Wisconsin enacted in 2023, Act 20.

Greendale Schools adopted one of the curriculum sets deemed eligible for state support, and when the district borrowed about $300,000 to implement the new materials and training, it expected to be reimbursed in fairly short order.

"Knowing that we had to borrow money to get high-quality material in the hands of our kids, that sat on my heart," Greendale's director of equity and instruction, Maggy Olson, said.

Two years after implementing the new curriculum, district leaders have been thrilled with the progress students have made.

"Our kids are so excited in K-5 to be able to read full sentences by the end of the year," Olson said. "And be able to read while they're driving, and saying, 'Mom, look what that sign says,' and those parents are sharing those stories with us."

The new law bans a technique known as three-cueing, and it provides aid to districts who choose a new curriculum from a state-approved list of four options.

Greendale Superintendent Kim Amidzich said the district expects to receive about $150,000 in state aid to cover half of the new curriculum's cost.

"That money will allow us to pay off that loan to avoid the additional interest that would come over the next five years in paying that off," Amidzich said.

Olson said Greendale applied for the reimbursement money within 24 hours of receiving notice from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI.) The DPI press office did not immediately respond to questions Thursday about how and when it will begin to distribute money to school districts.

While the money is secured, the political finger pointing hasn't stopped. State Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown), chair of the Senate's education committee, said lawmakers were right to have held off on distributing the money while the Legislature sued Evers of his attempt to partially veto the 2023 reading bill.

Wisconsin governors can only partially veto spending bills, such as the budget, and Republicans maintained the bipartisan bill did not directly account for the $50 million. The Evers administration maintained lawmakers should have released the funding while the lawsuit played out.

Last month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously Evers did not have the authority to partially veto the reading bill.

"You can thank Governor Evers for [the delay]," Jagler said. "He's the one who caused this with a veto that was ruled unconstitutional."

Jagler said Greendale's situation was not unique, but added districts should be seeing that funding start to arrive fairly soon.

"A lot of districts have already purchased curriculum, which is fantastic," Jagler said. "And they'll be able to apply for reimbursement right away, so that money should flow out the door pretty quickly."

Olson expressed relief at the idea of the state support finally being within reach. She said it was a day the district had long hoped for and had worked toward.

"Hope isn't a strategy," Olson said. "Hope is looking at the brutal facts in front of us and knowing that we're gonna persist and that we're going to be OK in the end."