FL: Gov. DeSantis Signs Bills Addressing Early Childhood Education and Literacy Rates
May 4, 2021
Florida is the latest state to take steps to expand early learning programs and tackle declining literacy rates, two topics that have remained at the forefront of officials’ plans to reopen schools, make up for learning lost to the pandemic, and strategically invest billions of dollars in federal aid. Under two new laws recently signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, accountability requirements for early childhood education programs will be tightened, while also raising the bar for teacher training, particularly in the science of reading and reading instruction. The state’s goal is to have 90% of third-grade students reading on grade-level by the end of the decade, DeSantis said.