Why contact your state representative & senator?

The bills that can require MA schools to teach reading with phonics are sleeping in the Ways & Means Committee, but caring citizens could pressure their representatives and senators for an up or down vote on the floor. Hopefully, the Ways & Means Committee will soon release bills S263 and H579 for voting by all legislators. The bills are named: An Act to Promote High-Quality Literacy Instruction In All MA Schools.

Why are these bills important?

Recent surveys published in the Boston Globe said that most families and educators want phonetic reading instruction. Mississippi recently mandated phonetic teaching of reading, and now their students outperform ours. Thirty-seven states have recently passed literacy laws because scientific research proves that children learn best from evidence-based, Science of Reading instruction.

Benefits of an Effective, Phonetic, Reading Program

• Most students will achieve reading proficiency on standardized tests and graduate high school.
• Schools will save hundreds of thousands of dollars on special education programs because children will read on or above grade level.
• Fewer children will suffer from anxiety, depression, or bullying due to their inability to read and their ensuing lack of self-esteem.
• The pipeline to prison will be reduced since readers can usually qualify for paying jobs instead of turning to crime.

Susan B. Kahn, MEd, CEO Sue’s Strategies LLC