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 supplemental reading instruction to any enrolled student whose reading proficiency falls below proficiency standards for the student's grade level or whose reading proficiency prevents progress in school." Proponents said legal counsel for the Agency of Education has interpreted the current phrase "such schools" to limit the guarantee to schools with K–3 grades, thereby denying the same statutory right to students in middle and high schools that do not house K–3 grades.

Several witnesses described the effect on students and families. Cynthia Garvin Morris, who said she is a member of the Advisory Council on Literacy but was speaking for herself, said many secondary students who struggle with reading show behavioral problems and poor attendance, and that targeted reading instruction often improves both literacy and classroom behavior. "Reading is an absolutely fundamental skill in our literacy, our literate society," she said.

Parent Elise Parambo described her son's experience with dyslexia and told lawmakers that structured literacy tutoring raised his reading level from about second grade to grade level after two years of targeted help. "Every child in Vermont should have that same opportunity to feel a future," she said.

Witnesses pointed to recently released 2024 NAEP reading data included with testimony, which they said show declines in Vermont students' reading performance and strengthen the case for restoring the broader statutory language. Written testimony read into the record emphasized that while Act 139 brought evidence-based instruction to early grades and required screening and teacher training, an unintended wording change during reconciliation narrowed the statutory guarantee for supplemental instruction.

No formal opposition speakers were recorded during the public testimony portion on S.15 in the transcript provided. Committee members asked for broader testimony and noted there would be additional witnesses scheduled. Senator Gulick was identified in testimony as the senator who introduced S.15 on Feb. 6; committee staff and witnesses referenced collaboration with legislative counsel to draft the bill.

Proponents framed S.15 as a technical correction intended to restore the pre-Act 139 statute while preserving the early-grade emphasis of Act 139. The bill would not change the law's requirement that schools provide systematic, explicit, evidence-aligned reading instruction in the early grades; it would extend the supplemental-intervention guarantee to students of all grade levels attending public or approved independent schools eligible for public tuition.

The committee did not take a formal vote on S.15 during the session recorded in the transcript; the bill remained under consideration and committee members signaled intent to hear a range of testimony before acting.