Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

House lawmakers consider proposal to remake literacy curriculum across the state

HF629 proposes an ambitious goal — to have all Minnesota students reading at or above grade level by the end of third grade in 2025. (House Photography file photo)
HF629 proposes an ambitious goal — to have all Minnesota students reading at or above grade level by the end of third grade in 2025. (House Photography file photo)

Reading proficiency rates are slipping among Minnesota’s students, with nearly half of all students not now reading at grade level. It’s an issue that has been raised many times in the education committees this session.

On Tuesday, the House Education Policy Committee finally heard a proposal to tackle this intensifying predicament.

“HF629, the READ Act, is an effort to take what we know about research, human development, cognitive science, and how people learn to read, and apply it to meaningful public policy,” said Rep. Heather Edelson (DFL-Edina), the bill sponsor.

“This goal is to support our districts and to improve literacy rates across the state of Minnesota, to help every child have the opportunity to read well.”

House committee hears bill with aim to boost reading proficiency among MN students 2/14/23

The committee intended to send the bill, as amended, to the House Education Finance Committee, but it was ultimately laid over for future discussion.

At the core of the bill is an ambitious goal – have all students reading at or above grade level by the end of grade 3 in 2025. This would be done primarily by remaking the literacy curriculum to conform with evidence-based reading instruction termed the “science of reading.”

To that end, Edelson wants to appropriate substantial sums to local districts and charter schools. This would amount to $40 million in fiscal year 2024 for schools to purchase new books, instructional materials, and intervention materials; and $30 million annually in the upcoming biennium to train classroom teachers on the science of reading method.

Edelson admits the bill is a work in progress: the definition of a “literacy specialist” and language around progress monitoring will continue to be shaped before the next committee stop.

Over a dozen teachers, administrators, students, and community advocates said the state’s current literacy curriculum and teaching methods need a foundational overhaul.

“As we know, our educational systems are failing our students when it comes to reading,” said Maria Roberts, an elementary school principal.

However, there were differences of opinion regarding the bill itself. Some felt the proposal does not go far enough in addressing the persistent achievement gap between Black and white students; feared it would not adequately prepare teachers to be culturally competent for diverse student population; or warned against relying on the science of reading as the sole pedagogical method for teaching kids how to read.


Related Articles


Priority Dailies

House passes tax package that includes rebate checks, $1 billion in new revenues
Rep. Aisha Gomez and House Majority Leader Jamie Long talk during a break in the May 20 debate on HF1938, the tax finance and policy bill. (Photo by Catherine Davis) Is it the largest tax cut in Minnesota history? Or the biggest tax hike the state has ever experienced? Could it be both? That’s the crux of the debate about the conference ...
House passes finalized cannabis legalization bill, sends it to Senate
A supporter of cannabis legalization demonstrates in front of the Capitol in 2021. The House repassed a bill to legalize recreational cannabis, as amended in conference committee, May 18 and sent HF100 to the Senate. (House Photography file photo) The House gave the green light to adult-use recreational cannabis Thursday. “The day has finally arrived. Today is the day that we are going to vote here in the House for th...

Minnesota House on Twitter