The United States faces a nationwide crisis in which our young people are reading at alarmingly low rates, with just 1 in 3 fourth graders meeting proficiency standards. So why are some on the right focused on standardized testing, not for students but for teachers?

Make no mistake, literacy is the big problem in public education. But it’s the kids we care about — we’re not so worried about college-educated adults. So it’s disappointing to see some choosing instead to focus on a decision by New Jersey to eliminate the requirement that all teachers pass a perfunctory standardized test before they’re able to get a teaching job.

It’s fair to point out that addressing a national early childhood literacy crisis requires ensuring that our teachers are properly equipped to do their jobs. We have to make sure our schools are staffed with effective, competent teachers, and we’ve got to make sure we don’t let standards slip. But get serious: A one-off standardized test isn’t the answer. Does anyone think teachers who graduate with a four-year bachelor’s degree won’t be able to read or do very basic math?

Fees to take the Praxis Core Skills test cost as much as $150, which isn’t an insignificant amount of money for a recent college graduate, or someone who’s trying to break into a new field or someone who finds themself in-between jobs. Here in Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker in 2022 wisely signed legislation aimed at reducing fees for teachers, including reducing the fee for a lapsed license to $50 from $500 and making it easier to obtain a substitute teacher requirement. The state has also waived a standardized testing requirement through August 2025. Good. Many would-be educators think twice, or not at all, about pursuing the profession because of the daunting amount of obstacles in their way: The prospect of acquiring another degree, plus navigating the licensure process, is a lot to tackle on top of other obligations such as family and putting food on the table.

Eliminating barriers to employment is a philosophy that people who identify as free-market, small-government thinkers should support. Especially when there are still meaningful safeguards in place to ensure only qualified people are teaching our kids.

There’s a lot to tackle when it comes to fixing America’s education system, but the debate over standardized testing for teachers is a distraction from the bigger problem: Our kids can’t read. And make no mistake, if children can’t read by third grade, it makes things far worse for them each year moving forward, as classroom instruction shifts away from simply learning to read, instead focusing on the need for kids to be able to read in order to learn … math, science, history and more. When they can’t read and they can’t learn, they’re more likely to drop out of school, which means lower lifetime earnings and opportunities.

To their credit, state leaders here acknowledged this crisis when they developed a “Comprehensive Literacy Plan,” which serves as a strategic framework to enhance literacy instruction across Illinois. While the plan emphasizes a focus on important things such as phonics, fluency and comprehension, and state policy continues rightly to allow local districts to control curriculum, it lacks teeth to motivate — or mandate — districts to advance the important work of ensuring students are receiving proper reading instruction.

To reiterate: It’s students we can’t allow to fall behind. The conversation on literacy must remain focused on the people who really need our attention.

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