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House committee advances Senate Bill 37, sponsors say amendments protect bilingual and indigenous instruction
Summary
The House Education Committee voted 12–0 to give Senate Bill 37 a do-pass after adopting sponsor-written amendments that emphasize evidence-based biliteracy practices, require K–3 screening, and mandate at least four written parent progress reports per year. Supporters said the changes protect bilingual and indigenous-language instruction; some tribal leaders said further work is needed.
Senator Stewart told the House Education Committee that Senate Bill 37, the High Quality Literacy Instruction Act, would require preservice educators and K–3 reading instruction to align with structured, evidence-based literacy practices while protecting bilingual and indigenous-language instruction. “The bill before you right now, Senate Bill 37, was endorsed by our LESC,” Stewart said, framing the measure as built with PED and local stakeholders.
The legislation requires reading instruction for kindergarten through third grade and reading interventions through 12th grade to use high-quality instructional materials approved by the Public Education Department and asks PED to adopt a short K–3 formative reading assessment that is “minimally disruptive” and tied to instructional support. Sponsors and…
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