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House committee gives due‑pass to SB 1069 to expand SMART literacy coaching with $5 million request
Summary
After a lengthy hearing with teachers, coaches, superintendents and opponents, the House Education Committee voted 11–3 to send Senate Bill 1069 to the floor with a due‑pass recommendation; the bill would appropriate $5 million ongoing to expand SMART coaching and administrator training focused on the science of reading.
The House Education Committee voted 11–3 to send Senate Bill 1069 to the floor with a due‑pass recommendation after extensive testimony on both the effectiveness and the costs of expanding a state-supported literacy coaching program.
Senate Bill 1069, introduced in the House by Representative Gerald Raymond (sponsoring a Senate measure), would appropriate $5 million ongoing to expand the SMART (Striving to Meet Achievement in Reading Together) coaching program. During the committee hearing, the State Superintendent and program leaders described SMART as a two‑year cohort program that trains teachers in evidence‑based, structured-literacy practices and sends trained coaches—described by the department as Idahoans with classroom experience—to provide monthly, in-class coaching and administrator training.
Superintendent Critchfield told the committee the appropriation would fund contract coaches rather…
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