HB5032 - Right to Read Act

• Creates the Right to Read Act requiring the State Board of Education to support public school districts in selecting and implementing evidence-based core reading instruction programs using structured literacy, with a list of approved curricula due by February 1, 2023.

• Establishes an Early Literacy Grant pilot program (deadline September 1, 2025) for districts committing to comprehensive literacy curriculum reform, requiring teachers in kindergarten through grade 3 and elementary administrators to complete evidence-based reading instruction training.

• Mandates all applicants for educator licenses in early childhood, elementary, special education, English language arts, reading specialist, and related fields pass a reading foundations test assessing phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension by no later than student teaching.

• Requires the State Board to annually post on its website documentation of literacy support efforts, including lists of Early Literacy Grant recipients, funding allocations, and evidence-based curricula being utilized.

• Allows educators who have successfully completed comparable reading foundations tests in other states or countries to be exempted from retaking Illinois' reading foundations test, effective immediately upon passage.