Listen to Educator Voices on MSDE’s Draft Literacy Policy
Dear State Board of Education:
While we all share the goal of prioritizing literacy among our youngest learners, educators have raised some important challenges that we urge you to address so that we can get this important policy right.
Key among these challenges are:
- Implementation timeline: We can’t rush implementation; beginning this policy during the 2028-29 school year would allow the benefit of increased staffing and pre-k enrollment which will occur as part of the Blueprint, more collaborative planning time to support students who need it most, the coaching and training of educators on best practices to support the new reading interventions, and more. Adjusting this timeline also allows for a full evaluation of the impact of the new curriculum, standards, and assessments on a cohort of K-3 students before imposing major consequences on families. It gives our students and educators the time and support to get this right.
- Workload: Educators are already overworked and burning out at unsustainable levels. We see the result in staffing shortages across the state. We can’t allow this new policy to contribute to these conditions. We need to ensure that the additional curriculum/training required is not redundant and does not overburden educators as they grapple with new licensure requirements, adjusted renewal timelines, balancing tutoring interventions within the workday, and the trainings required by the policy.
- Equity: Retention-based policies often disproportionately punish students of color and English language learners. We need to be mindful of the supports we put in place and making sure that reading interventions happen early and that all families, no matter their background or neighborhood, have equitable access to understanding, engaging with, and navigating their role and the power of their voice in these policies.
Thank you for your attention to educators’ voices and your work to get this policy right for all of our students and schools.