FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)— One of the dozens of new Indiana laws to go into effect on July 1 was Senate Bill 1, or the "Every Child Learns to Read Bill." Senate Bill 1 was a top priority during the 2024 legislative session, but it was met with some controversy, especially from Hoosier educators. According to one of the bill's authors, State Sen. Linda Rogers (R-Granger), the goal of this legislation is to identify students who struggle with reading earlier than it's happening right now. FWPD unveils boat for department’s water patrol unit "We have one out of five students here in Indiana that leave the third grade without being proficient in reading," Rogers said. "And that's unacceptable." The new law requires Indiana students to take the IRead exam in second grade. If a student doesn't pass, they will have to take literacy summer school courses with an instructor who is trained in the science of reading. There will be multiple opportunities for that student to retake the exam during third grade, Rogers said. But if they don't pass by the end of third grade, they will have to be held back. "[If] we start testing them earlier, we're putting them on a path toward success," Rogers said. "Because it's very difficult to be successful in your educational career, or any career, if you don't have the ability to read." According to Rogers, young children in grades K-3 are the ones to assess. "That's the time to do it," Rogers said. "Now, once someone gets older, whether they're in junior high or high school— that's a very difficult time." 2nd Vice President of the Fort Wayne Education Association, Tom Bailey, agrees that there's an issue when it comes to literacy in young children. But, he said it should've been dealt with in a different way. He also said his fellow teachers agree. According to Bailey, the implementation of the bill will have unintentional, but negative consequences. He said staffing has the potential to be difficult in this transition. "There's going to be a whole lot of wavering between how a principal can put a teacher at fourth grade," Bailey said. "Because, well, there might not be enough fourth graders to have two fourth grade classes because we kept a whole class back just because of state reading requirements." Bailey also explained how he thinks IRead scores only tell part of the story. "A lot of whether or not a student is ready to read by grade three has to do with factors outside of the classroom," Bailey said. "A lot of them have to do with socio-economic status. A lot of them have to do with the education level of the parents that they have." According to Bailey, the legislation should reflect more of what he thinks educators are facing first hand on the local level, that way resources can be used more effectively.