Witnesses urge passage of S.15 to restore supplemental reading instruction for grades 4–12

Doreen Dorfman, a teacher and former principal from Plainfield, testified to the Senate Education Committee in support of Senate Bill 15, saying the bill would restore a long-standing right for struggling readers in grades 4–12 to receive supplemental reading instruction in Vermont public and approved independent schools.

"This is a small bill akin to a technical correction," Dorfman said, describing how language inserted during the enactment of Act 139 had, she and others say, narrowed the prior statute so that supplemental instruction now appears to be guaranteed only in schools that serve grades K–3. She told the committee she had taught evidence-aligned reading and seen students in middle and high school struggle without access to consistent, trained instruction.

The bill would amend 16 V.S.A. § 2903 to clarify that "all public schools and approved independent schools that are eligible to receive public tuition shall provide…