The LEARN Act

The LEARN Act was created by a small coalition of education organizations working with the bill’s sponsors Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Representative John Yarmuth (D-KY), Representative Jared Polis (D-CO), and the staff from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.  On November 5, 2009, S. 2740 was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.   On January 4, 2010, companion bill H.R. 4037 was referred to the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.  It is possible the LEARN Act could be considered during the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2010 [1].

The LEARN Act, if passed, will authorize $2.35 billion for literacy programs to provide education improving the reading and writing skills for children in pre-k through 12th grade.  Ten percent of the $2.35 billion will be dedicated to children age birth to five years old.  Additionally, the LEARN Act supports the formation of a state literacy plan that includes a needs assessment and an implementation plan of high-quality instruction in reading and writing for all children.  Lastly, the LEARN Act supports professional development for educators [2, 3].  While incorporating principles from the Striving Readers federal adolescent literacy program, the LEARN Act makes strong improvements to K-3 literacy programs [4].

 
[1]http://p8.hostingprod.com/@www.principalspolicyblog.org/blog/2009/11/learn_act_to_create_comprehens.html [2] http://murray.senate.gov/education/LEARNact.pdf
[3] http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.2740 :
[4] http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=319813