Oklahoma Lawmakers Form Bipartisan Reading Caucus as Fourth-Grade Scores Slide

Oklahoma ranks fourth most illiterate in the nation, and only 23% of the state’s fourth-graders scored proficient or advanced on national reading assessments, down from 33% in 2015. Those numbers pushed four state lawmakers, Republicans Mike Lay and Ally Seifried and Democrats Suzanne Schreiber and Mark Mann, to launch the Oklahoma Reading Caucus, a bipartisan group with one target: every child reading proficiently by the end of third grade.

The caucus plans to keep the momentum going from the Strong Readers Act, which Governor Kevin Stitt signed in April. Members are looking closely at the“Mississippi Miracle,”the evidence-based reading policy that pulled Mississippi off the bottom of national literacy rankings. Their work will focus on implementing the law, tracking outcomes, spotlighting successful districts, and learning from high-performing states when the Legislature convenes in February for the first session of the 61st Oklahoma Legislature.

For families in Lawton and across Comanche County, this isn’t abstract. More than 500,000 Oklahoma adults face low literacy, and reading proficiency connects directly to workforce readiness at Fort Sill and beyond. As Seifried said, wanting all students to read on grade level is not a partisan issue. What’s your take: should reading policy be a top priority in February?