Nearly two years after it became law in Wisconsin, Act 20 has been fully funded.
State lawmakers included nearly $41 million for literacy efforts in the recently passed 2025-27 state budget. Adding to smaller allocations already put in place, that money completed the original $50 million ask of the law that made sweeping changes to the way children are taught to read.
Lawmakers declined to fully fund Act 20 while a legal dispute between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican co-chairs of the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance moved through the court system.
At least 40 states and Washington, D.C., have passed “science of reading” legislation since 2013, according to an analysis by Education Week. Like in other states, the broad goal behind Wisconsin’s law is to ensure kids are taught to read using a phonics-based method, which focuses on sounding out letters.
Act 20 prohibits “three-cueing,” the method of reading instruction that teaches children to interpret text by looking at clues in the meaning, structure and letters in the sentence. Using the three-cueing method, a reader might ask “what word makes sense in the sentence?” if they don’t recognize it.
Those changes in approach have been in effect since Act 20 became law on July 19, 2023, even when the programs intending to make them a reality went unfunded.
The 2025-27 state budget will pay for major items related to the literacy law, including new curriculum, educator training programs, student reading assessments and three years of a director position for the Office of Literacy.
Lawmakers separately funded other parts of the law — 64 literacy coach positions, and two more years of the literacy office director job — in December 2023 and June 2025.
Lawsuit over Evers’ veto settled by Supreme Court
The legal issue centered on Evers’ use of a veto on a bill that was intended to fund Act 20. Co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Finance argued Evers had used his veto powers incorrectly, prompting a lawsuit against him.
While that case moved through the courts, finance committee lawmakers also neglected to release the funds.
The legal dispute essentially ended June 25, when the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Evers had improperly used his veto powers. The court decision triggered calls from Republicans and Democrats alike to fund the bill, as well as criticism about the impact of partisan politics on delaying a program focused on youth literacy.
Act 20 has been funded in separate allocations. Here’s a breakdown
In total, the funding for Act 20 adds up to $50 million — but it’s been funded in chunks.
Here’s a breakdown:
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December 2023: Lawmakers released $327,400 to fund the director position for the Office of Literacy in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
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June 27, 2025: The Joint Committee on Finance funded $9,009,900 for 64 literacy coach positions, but declined to fund the remaining portions of Act 20 as requested by the Department of Public Instruction.
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July 3, 2025: The 2025-27 state budget included $37.1 million for new curriculum and educator training, $2.9 million for assessments of kids’ literacy skills, and the remaining $662,700 for the 2025-26, 2026-27, and 2027-28 years of the director position in the office of literacy and related costs.
The $37.1 million for curriculum and training won’t be included in calculating index payments for private choice schools and independent charter schools, which Evers said in a budget message would “(prevent) them from benefiting twice from funding school districts could only receive once.”
Cleo Krejci covers K-12 education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information about Report for America, visit jsonline.com/rfa.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin lawmakers fully fund Act 20 literacy bill in state budget