Urge the Conference Committee to Listen to Educators on Literacy

The Massachusetts House of Representatives and state Senate have each passed bills, H.4683 and S.2940 respectively, that mandate the use of certain literacy curricula in our public schools. Now, a legislative conference committee has been convened to reconcile the differences between the two versions and develop a final, compromise bill. Serving on the conference committee are Rep. Ken Gordon, Rep. Simon Cataldo, Rep. John Marsi, Sen. Sal DiDomenico, Sen. Jason Lewis and Sen. Patrick O’Connor.

The members of the Massachusetts Teachers Association voted overwhelmingly at our Annual Meeting of Delegates to oppose state mandates to use specific literacy curricula, such as those included in H.4683/S.2940, and our deep concern with that provision of both bills remains.

Yet the House and Senate, in different and important ways, each incorporated educators’ feedback into the final versions of the legislation passed by their respective chambers and we need your help in ensuring that the conference committee continues to consider the perspective of public school educators as they develop a final bill.

Specifically, we need you to urge the conference committee to:

• Support provisions in the House bill that focus on investments in reading specialists and other educators who will provide instruction and support to students.
• Support the Senate’s proposed Early Literacy Fund, which is funded at $25 million, to support districts in implementing the curricula mandate and the state in developing its own literacy curriculum to be made freely available to districts.
• Reject language from the House bill that will ban specific instructional practices in our classrooms. As just one example, the House’s language prohibits any “visual memorization of whole words” in a clear reference to so-called “sight words.” If this language, which the Senate did not advance in its bill, is included in the final legislation, educators could violate state law if, among the other enumerated prohibitions, we are considered to be encouraging even just one student to memorize a whole word as a supplemental piece of their overall literacy instruction.

Please email the conference committee right away and urge them to listen to public school educators, the experts on literacy, by addressing our conference committee priorities. Please also call their offices to follow up on your email. Use the phone numbers provided to make your voice heard.