Right to Read Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2889 To ensure that students in schools have a right to read, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 26, 2023 Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. OCASIO-COR- TEZ, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. MENG, Ms. MCCOLLUM, and Mr. MCGOVERN) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and the Workforce A BILL To ensure that students in schools have a right to read, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Right to Read Act 4 of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 Section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2889 IH (1) by redesignating paragraphs (19) through 1 (28), paragraphs (29) through (43), paragraphs 2 (44) through (49), and paragraphs (50) through 3 (52) as paragraphs (20) through (29), paragraphs 4 (31) through (45), paragraphs (47) through (52), 5 and paragraphs (54) through (56), respectively; 6 (2) by inserting after paragraph (18) the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(19) EFFECTIVE SCHOOL LIBRARY.—The term 9 ‘effective school library’ means a library that— 10 ‘‘(A) is staffed by supporting staff and at 11 least one full-time State-certified school librar- 12 ian who— 13 ‘‘(i) is an instructional leader, infor- 14 mation specialist, and teacher; 15 ‘‘(ii) supports the digital learning en- 16 vironment and the development of 17 participatory learning, inquiry learning, 18 digital literacy, and information literacy; 19 and 20 ‘‘(iii) supports, supplements, and ele- 21 vates the literacy experience through guid- 22 ance in reading for learning and motiva- 23 tional reading initiatives in order to en- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2889 IH hance student achievement and foster life- 1 long reading and learning; 2 ‘‘(B) is otherwise adequately staffed to be 3 open to students before, during, and after the 4 school day; 5 ‘‘(C) has a sufficient collection of profes- 6 sionally curated up-to-date digital and print 7 materials and technology, including openly li- 8 censed educational resources; 9 ‘‘(D) provides appropriate facilities for 10 maintaining and providing equitable access to 11 materials, technology, connectivity, and library 12 and literacy instruction; 13 ‘‘(E) provides regular skills development or 14 training for classroom teachers, school librar- 15 ians, library paraprofessional staff, and other 16 educators; 17 ‘‘(F) provides opportunities for collabora- 18 tion between classroom teachers and school li- 19 brarians; and 20 ‘‘(G) implements nationally recognized pro- 21 fessional standards of practice.’’; 22 (3) by inserting after paragraph (29), as redes- 23 ignated by paragraph (1), the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2889 IH ‘‘(30) INFORMATION LITERACY.—The term ‘in- 1 formation literacy’ means the set of skills needed to 2 find, retrieve, understand, evaluate, analyze, and ef- 3 fectively use information (which encompasses spoken 4 and broadcast words and videos, printed materials, 5 and digital content, data, and images).’’; 6 (4) by inserting after paragraph (45), as redes- 7 ignated by paragraph (1), the following: 8 ‘‘(46) RIGHT TO READ.—The term ‘right to 9 read’ means all students have access to— 10 ‘‘(A) linguistically and developmentally ap- 11 propriate, evidence-based reading instruction; 12 ‘‘(B) effective school libraries; 13 ‘‘(C) family literacy support; 14 ‘‘(D) culturally diverse and inclusive mate- 15 rials; 16 ‘‘(E) reading materials in the home; and 17 ‘‘(F) the freedom to choose reading mate- 18 rials.’’; and 19 (5) by inserting after paragraph (52), as redes- 20 ignated by paragraph (1), the following: 21 ‘‘(53) TEACHER.—The term ‘teacher’ includes a 22 school librarian.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2889 IH SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE I. 1 (a) STATE PLANS.—Section 1111 of that Act (20 2 U.S.C. 6311) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)(4)(A)(ii)(I)(aa), by insert- 4 ing ‘‘(including school librarians)’’ after ‘‘teachers’’; 5 and 6 (2) in subsection (g)— 7 (A) in paragraph (1)— 8 (i) by redesignating subparagraph (G) 9 as subparagraph (H); 10 (ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 11 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 12 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 13 (F) the following: 14 ‘‘(G) how the State will work to ensure 15 that low-income students, minority students, 16 students with disabilities, and English learners 17 are not disproportionally enrolled in schools 18 that lack an effective school library, and the 19 measures the State educational agency will use 20 to evaluate and publicly report the progress of 21 the State educational agency with respect to en- 22 suring such access to an effective school library; 23 and’’; and 24 (iv) in subparagraph (H), as redesig- 25 nated by clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, includ- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2889 IH ing the development of digital literacy and 1 information literacy skills’’ after ‘‘academic 2 standards’’; and 3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 4 (i) in subparagraph (J), by inserting 5 ‘‘(including school librarians)’’ after 6 ‘‘teachers’’; 7 (ii) in subparagraph (M), by striking 8 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 9 (iii) in subparagraph (N), by striking 10 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 11 and’’; and 12 (iv) by adding at the end the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(O) the State educational agency has a 15 policy regarding the right to read and will no- 16 tify local educational agencies, Indian tribes 17 and tribal organizations, schools, teachers, 18 school librarians, principals, other school lead- 19 ers, specialized support personnel, parents, and 20 the public of such policy.’’. 21 (b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PLANS.—Section 22 1112 of that Act (20 U.S.C. 6312) is amended— 23 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘(in- 24 cluding school librarians)’’ after ‘‘teachers’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2889 IH (2) in subsection (b)— 1 (A) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking 2 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 3 (B) by striking paragraph (13); and 4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(13) how the local educational agency will— 6 ‘‘(A) support and improve effective school 7 libraries by supporting the work of State-cer- 8 tified school librarians to ensure that students 9 have equitable access to such libraries; and 10 ‘‘(B) assist schools in developing effective 11 school libraries to provide students an oppor- 12 tunity to develop digital literacy and informa- 13 tion literacy skills and improve academic 14 achievement; 15 ‘‘(14) the policies the local educational agency 16 has in place to protect the right to read; and 17 ‘‘(15) any other information on how the local 18 educational agency proposes to use funds to meet 19 the purposes of this part, and that the local edu- 20 cational agency determines appropriate to provide, 21 which may include a description of how the local 22 educational agency will assist schools in identifying 23 and serving gifted and talented students.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2889 IH SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE II. 1 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 2 2003 of that Act (20 U.S.C. 6603) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘except for 4 subpart 2,’’ after ‘‘part B,’’; and 5 (2) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(c) LITERACY EDUCATION FOR ALL, RESULTS FOR 7 THE NATION.—There are authorized to be appropriated— 8 ‘‘(1) for grants authorized under section 2222, 9 $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each of the 10 succeeding 4 fiscal years; and 11 ‘‘(2) for grants authorized under section 2226, 12 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each of the 13 succeeding 4 fiscal years.’’. 14 (b) FORMULA GRANTS TO STATES.—Section 2101 of 15 that Act (20 U.S.C. 6611) is amended— 16 (1) in subsection (c)(4)(B)— 17 (A) by redesignating clauses (xiv) through 18 (xxi) as clauses (xvii) through (xxiv), respec- 19 tively; 20 (B) by striking clause (xiii) and inserting 21 the following: 22 ‘‘(xiii) Supporting and improving ef- 23 fective school libraries that involve collabo- 24 ration with State-certified school librar- 25 ians.’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2889 IH (C) by inserting after clause (xiii) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(xiv) Developing, improving, and im- 3 plementing mechanisms to assist local edu- 4 cational agencies and schools in effectively 5 recruiting, hiring, and retaining State-cer- 6 tified school librarians. 7 ‘‘(xv) Providing training to school li- 8 brarians, teachers, and school leaders on 9 how to leverage effective school libraries 10 for academic achievement, digital literacy, 11 information literacy, and student and fam- 12 ily engagement. 13 ‘‘(xvi) Providing training to library 14 paraprofessional and other library staff to 15 improve the effectiveness of school library 16 programs.’’; and 17 (2) in subsection (d)(3)(A), by inserting ‘‘(in- 18 cluding school librarians)’’ after ‘‘teachers’’. 19 (c) LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.—Section 2103(b)(3) of 20 that Act (20 U.S.C. 6613(b)(3)) is amended by striking 21 subparagraph (K) and inserting the following: 22 ‘‘(K) programs and activities to support 23 and improve effective school libraries that in- 24 volve collaboration with State-certified school li- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2889 IH brarians, such as efforts to promote and sup- 1 port digital literacy, information literacy, ex- 2 tended student inquiry, and capstone projects;’’. 3 (d) RESERVATIONS.—Section 2201 of that Act (20 4 U.S.C. 6621) is amended— 5 (1) by striking paragraph (2); and 6 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 7 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively. 8 (e) LEARN PURPOSES AND DEFINITIONS.—Section 9 2221(b) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 6641(b)) is amended— 10 (1) in paragraph (1)— 11 (A) in subparagraph (K), by striking 12 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 13 (B) in subparagraph (L), by striking the 14 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(M) provides opportunities for students to 17 develop digital literacy and information literacy 18 skills.’’; and 19 (2) in paragraph (2)(C), by inserting ‘‘public li- 20 braries, or pediatric literacy programs’’ after ‘‘which 21 may include early childhood education programs’’. 22 (f) COMPREHENSIVE LITERACY STATE DEVELOP- 23 MENT GRANTS.—Section 2222 of that Act (20 U.S.C. 24 6642) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2889 IH (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘From the 1 amounts reserved by the Secretary under section 2 2201(2) and not reserved under subsection (b),’’ and 3 inserting ‘‘From amounts appropriated to carry out 4 this section’’; and 5 (2) in subsection (b)— 6 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 7 by striking ‘‘reserved to carry out this subpart’’ 8 and inserting ‘‘appropriated to carry out this 9 section’’; and 10 (B) in paragraphs (2) and (3), by striking 11 ‘‘subpart’’ and inserting ‘‘section’’ each place 12 the term appears; 13 (3) in subsection (d)— 14 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and the 15 State agency responsible for administering child 16 care programs’’ and inserting ‘‘the State agency 17 responsible for administering child care pro- 18 grams in the State, and the State library ad- 19 ministrative agency’’; and 20 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘, 21 diverse high quality print materials, and effec- 22 tive school libraries,’’ after ‘‘teachers of lit- 23 eracy’’; and 24 (4) in subsection (f)(2)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2889 IH (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 1 through (E) as subparagraphs (C) through (F), 2 respectively; and 3 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(B) Providing technical assistance to eli- 6 gible entities in the development of effective 7 school libraries, which may include establishing 8 a statewide office to coordinate technical assist- 9 ance for such libraries.’’. 10 (g) SUBGRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES IN SUPPORT 11 OF BIRTH THROUGH KINDERGARTEN ENTRY LIT- 12 ERACY.—Section 2223(a)(1) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 13 6643(a)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘the State library ad- 14 ministrative agency,’’ before ‘‘and, if applicable,’’. 15 (h) INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO LITERACY.—Sec- 16 tion 2226(a) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 6646(a)) is amend- 17 ed— 18 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 19 striking ‘‘From amounts reserved under section 20 2201(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘From amounts appro- 21 priated to carry out this section’’; 22 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 23 paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2889.IH H2889 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2889 IH (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(2) increasing the number of State-certified 3 school librarians supporting students in high need 4 schools;’’. 5 (i) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.— 6 (1) Section 2231(a) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 7 6661(a)) is amended, in the matter preceding para- 8 graph (1) by striking ‘‘section 2201(3)’’ and insert- 9 ing ‘‘section 2201(2)’’. 10 (2) Section 2241 of that Act (20 U.S.C. 6671) [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]