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Senate Education Committee tables reading-reform bill; directs substitute draft incorporating State Department of Education revisions
Summary
Senate File 178, a bill addressing reading proficiency and interventions, was tabled while committee members directed legislative staff to draft a substitute incorporating language from the Wyoming Department of Education. The committee agreed to pursue a collaboratively drafted substitute rather than move the original as-is.
The Senate Education Committee on Feb. 3 debated Senate File 178, a broad literacy bill brought by Senator Scott intended to address statewide gaps in early-grade reading proficiency. After testimony from education leaders and a substantive policy discussion, the committee voted to table the bill and directed staff to draft a substitute incorporating language provided by the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE).
What the bill would do Senate File 178 proposes a range of measures to improve early literacy outcomes statewide, including universal screening, required individual reading plans for students who do not reach proficiency, expanded parental notification and involvement, a delayed retention provision for some grades, and enforcement mechanisms tied to assessment integrity. Senator Scott framed the bill as a performance-focused effort aimed at raising reading proficiency, noting state assessment results show many students are not reaching proficiency on the YTOP.
Agency concerns and procedural outcome Megan Degenfelder, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, told the committee she supports literacy reform but asks for time to reconcile Senator Scott's draft with a comprehensive rewrite of the state's literacy statute. "If we really want to address literacy and if we want to do it in a really statewide manner, we have to look at it in a comprehensive way," Degenfelder said, asking the committee to table the bill so the department and legislators could produce a substitute.
Several senators, including Senator Rothfuss and Senator Olson, expressed concern with aspects of the draft and favored either tabling to craft a substitute now or taking the language to an interim rewrite. Senator Olson moved to table the bill and requested a substitute that incorporated WDE language; the committee approved that motion and separately approved a motion directing staff to draft the substitute for committee consideration later in the week.
Why it matters Witnesses and legislators agreed that Wyoming must address reading outcomes — the committee discussed statewide assessment and NAEP comparisons — but differed on how prescriptive the Legislature should be about interventions, retention, and enforcement. Concerns included reliance on a single summative assessment (YTOP) for high-stakes decisions, adequacy of Department of Education staffing to implement supports, and the potential need to resource statewide system-of-support roles.
Next steps and transparency note The committee voted to table SF 178 and asked LSO and the WDE to produce a draft substitute that incorporates the department's language; committee members discussed timing and public notice constraints because substitute drafts may not be available on the public bill website prior to committee of the whole hearings. The committee scheduled further consideration later in the week and asked the parties to circulate draft language to stakeholders where possible.
Ending Committee members said they want a workable, jointly drafted approach; Senator Scott said he favored proceeding with the bill's framework to start improvements now, while the WDE and some senators pressed for a comprehensive rewrite or a carefully negotiated substitute.
