May 20, 2021 Group Watch: Elements of Alabama Literacy Act Delayed
Thanks to to learning losses sustained due to the pandemic, Alabama lawmakers voted to delay for two years a provision in the Alabama Literacy Act, a law passed in 2019 to emphasize reading instruction in the earliest grades. The law says that beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, third graders would have to show they can read at grade level in order to be promoted to fourth grade. The House gave final passage of a Senate-passed bill to delay that time provision until the 2023-2024 school years. The bill passed by a vote of 68-27, and now goes to the governor who could sign it into law.
