Senate Education panel considers amendment to restore K–12 supplemental reading instruction

The Senate Education Committee met April 1, 2025, to review a strike‑all amendment to S.15 that would add a requirement that public schools and approved independent schools provide supplemental reading instruction to any K–12 student whose reading proficiency is “significantly below” grade‑level standards or prevents progress in school, according to language presented by the Office of Legislative Council.

Committee members were told the amendment was developed by parties who had met to find common ground after Act 139 — Vermont’s K–3 literacy law passed last year — removed an earlier statutory provision for supplemental instruction in grades above third. Beth St. James of the Office of Legislative Council walked the committee through a side‑by‑side of current law, S.15 as introduced, and the proposed amendment and said the draft strikes and replaces the subsection of 16 VSA §2903 that concerns supplemental reading instruction.

Why it matters: Witnesses told the committee the change would restore access to evidence‑based reading interventions in grades 4–12 that some advocates say was unintentionally narrowed when Act 139 focused statutory requirements on K–3. Testimony cited declines on the National Assessment of Educational Progress — including that 42% of Vermont fourth graders scored at “below basic” in 2024 — as part of the case for restoring supplemental services for older students.

Testimony and debate Beth St. James,…