INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The head of Indiana’s largest teachers’ union on Tuesday said he’s willing to work with lawmakers to improve reading scores and reduce absenteeism but it depends on what they propose.

Keith Gambill, president of the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA), said he is aware of state lawmakers’ plans to tackle both issues during the 2024 legislative session. The Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) assessment data released in August showed 18% of Indiana’s third graders can’t read at grade level. A little more than a month later, the Indiana Department of Education reported nearly 1 in 5 students are chronically absent.

House Speaker Todd Huston, a Republican from Fishers, and Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray, a Republican from Martinsville, have both said they will prioritize reading scores and absenteeism during the 2024 session.

In his Organization Day address last week, Huston proposed holding back students who can’t read at grade level, later clarifying to reporters he wants lawmakers to review the exceptions that allow students to be advanced to the next grade even if they don’t meet literacy requirements.

Gambill said he can’t comment on that specific proposal because nobody has yet said exactly how they would carry it out, but added he’s ready to support any measure that could improve reading proficiency. He said lawmakers could do so by expanding pre-kindergarten eligibility and lowering the mandatory school age from 7 to 5.

On the absenteeism issue, Gambill said, lawmakers need to partner with other states to figure out the root causes.

“We have to get further into that to really know what’s there and what supports, then, do we need to put into place to help them,” he said.

Gambill said the ISTA also will lobby lawmakers to open up the state budget and add $500 million in basic tuition support plus full funding for school textbooks. Although Indiana did away with textbook fees on July 1, school districts have been forced to pay for them out of their own pockets. The 2024 session is not a budget session and Huston has already said he will not allow any spending items to come to the floor.