Bipartisan Senate bill targets declining literacy with evidence-based reading instruction

As studies continue to find that additional school funding alone does not guarantee improved student literacy rates, Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced the Improving America’s Literacy Act last month to address declining elementary literacy. 

“Federal dollars have continued to flow to schools and programs that use outdated pedagogical methods and fall short in teaching children to read, contributing to what has become a consistent and catastrophic decline in literacy levels across America,” Cruz said in a press release.

The Improving America’s Literacy Act directs federal education funding to support the five pillars of the Science of Reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

“This bill will direct federal funding to evidence-based reading instruction. I am proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation with Senator Schatz, and I urge my colleagues to advance it,” Cruz said in the same statement.

Since 2013, federal and state education spending has increased by 56% to about $16,700 per student. Meanwhile, national math and reading scores have declined by 12 points and six points, respectively, according to Edunomics Lab research. 

The Improving America’s Literacy Act would redirect federal funding to evidence-based literacy instruction but would not change how states allocate their education funding.

Texas, for example, spends an average of $16,219 per student across federal, state and local funding streams, with the state committing $4.1 billion in new public education funding for the 2025-26 school year. Of this new funding, $1.8 billion is designated for teacher pay raises, while $454 million is earmarked as a targeted grant for specialized early literacy and numeracy improvement strategies.

While allocating $454 million across Texas’ 5.5 million students equals about $82 per student, this represents only supplemental funding for specialized interventions. Standard reading and math instruction, regular curriculum and teacher salaries continue to be funded through districts’ general operating budgets, which dedicate about $8,500 to $9,000 per student annually, according to Texas Education Agency financial reports

The legislation also directs the director of the Institute of Education Sciences to study each state’s efforts to improve education, including the instructional materials used to advance literacy and numeracy, with the goal of strengthening accountability at the state and local levels.

The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and awaits further action.