Rep. Joel Kitchens Tapped to Chair Education Committee

Rep. Joel Kitchens. Archive image.

Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) has been named chair of the Assembly Committee on Education for the 2023-24 legislative session.

Kitchens, who was previously chair of the Assembly Environment Committee, will now be the vice chair of that committee. He also will continue to serve as a member of the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Tourism.

“I very much enjoy my work on the Environment Committee, but education is one of our most important committees – it is our largest budget item – and I wanted the challenge,” Kitchens said in an email to the Peninsula Pulse.

House Speaker Robin Vos makes the committee assignments. Kitchens, who is starting his fifth term in office, said the assignments are not based primarily on seniority, but on members’ abilities and past work.

“My top priority as chairman will be advancing legislation that improves educational opportunities and outcomes for all children across Wisconsin,” he said. “We have the largest achievement gap between white and Black students in the nation, and that should be unacceptable to all of us. 

“Furthermore, close to 65% of fourth-graders in our state are not proficient readers, with 34% failing to meet even basic standards. It is essential that we do better in this area because reading is the key to learning.

“I also believe that we need to address the learning loss that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kitchens continued. “This hit underprivileged kids the hardest. Additionally, I want to encourage parents to get involved in their children’s education and give them options to participate.”