Below is a press release from State Senator Barry Finegold’s Office:
BOSTON, MA — Last week, Senator Barry Finegold and state senate colleagues unanimously voted on the Right to Read Act.
The bill—An Act relative to teacher preparation and student literacy, S.2924—requires that local school districts use an evidence-based curriculum to teach reading and literacy to students from kindergarten to 3rd grade. The curriculum would be approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and feature phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and phonemic awareness.
“This bill strengthens Massachusetts’ position as a national leader in education by ensuring that our teachers and students have the tools they need to excel,” said Senator Finegold.
The legislation would also have DESE make one complete curriculum available for free, directly to schools. Schools would be required to regularly assess students’ reading levels and act if a student is significantly behind benchmarks.
The bill includes $25 million in one-time funding from the ‘Fair Share’ surtax on millionaire households to help school districts purchase new, evidence-based curricula and provide professional development to teachers.
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