New York legislation · 2025-2026 General Assembly
New York A78: Relates to early literacy education
Status: In committee, May 5, 2026
Requires school districts to provide instructional programming and services in reading and literacy which are evidence based and aligned with state standards; requires teachers in grades pre-K through five to attend professional development courses in reading education.
What the bill says
An act to amend the education law, in relation to early literacy education.
From the amended text, May 5, 2026:
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to early literacy education THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "right to read act". § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 819 to read as follows: § 819. EARLY LITERACY EDUCATION. 1. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS: (A) "EVIDENCE-BASED" MEANS THE INSTRUCTION OR ITEM DESCRIBED IS BASED ON RIGOROUS, RELIABLE, TRUSTWORTHY AND VALID SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AND HAS DEMONSTRATED A RECORD OF SUCCESS IN ADDRESSING STUDENTS' READING COMPETENCY IN THE AREAS OF PHONEMIC AWARENESS, PHONICS, VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT, READING FLUENCY AND COMPREHENSION, INCLUDING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE ORAL LANGUAGE AND WRITING. (B) "PHONEMIC AWARENESS" MEANS THE ABILITY TO NOTICE, THINK ABOUT AND MANIPULATE INDIVIDUAL SOUNDS IN SPOKEN SYLLABLES AND WORDS. (C) "VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT" MEANS THE PROCESS OF ACQUIRING NEW WORDS. "VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT" INCLUDES IMPROVING ALL AREAS OF COMMUNICATION, EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00258-02-6 A. 78--A 2 INCLUDING LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING AND WRITING WHICH IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT AND IS A STRONG PREDICTOR FOR READING SUCCESS. (D) "READING FLUENCY" MEANS THE ABILITY …
Sponsors
- Carroll, Robert C. (D, 44) · primary sponsor
- Harvey Epstein (D, 74)
- Maryjane Shimsky (D, 92)
- Emily Gallagher (D, 50)
- Rebecca Seawright (D, 76)
- Khaleel Anderson (D, 31)
- Steven Raga (D, 30)
- Andrew Hevesi (D, 28)
- Jo Simon (D, 52)
- Brian Cunningham (D, 43)
- Carrie Woerner (D, 113)
- Brown, Keith (R, 12)
Latest actions
- : PRINT NUMBER 78A
- : AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO EDUCATION
- : REFERRED TO EDUCATION
- : REFERRED TO EDUCATION
Subjects: Education Law
Common questions
- What is A78?
- A78 is a bill in the New York Legislature (2025-2026 General Assembly): Relates to early literacy education.
- What does A78 do?
- In its own words: An act to amend the education law, in relation to early literacy education.
- What is the status of A78?
- In committee as of May 5, 2026. Latest action: PRINT NUMBER 78A (May 5, 2026).
- Who sponsored A78?
- Carroll, Robert C. (D, 44), with 11 co-sponsors.
- Where is the official record for A78?
- On the New York Legislature website: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A78
Source: official New York record. Tracked by Delilah, AI for legislation across all 50 states and Congress.