Right to Read Illinois: Witness Slips Needed ASAP!
Witness Slips are needed again, ASAP, for the House version of the ILLINOIS RIGHT TO READ ACT! It takes 5 minutes!
- For "Firm/Business Or Agency", type "self" -- same for "Title" field
- IMPT: Check the “Proponent” box for Position section.
- Choose “Record of Appearance Only" for Testimony section
Go sign it, then read on for more details from Jessica Handy, Illinois Policy Director at Stand For Children:
“The Right to Read Act passed the Senate Education Committee unanimously. But, that’s not to say it will be smooth sailing ahead. We and our powerhouse sponsor, Sen. Kimberly Lightford, made commitments for amendments to come back to committee. Two organizational groups officially opposed the bill (ISBE and the Association of College Teacher Education Programs). We are continuing to talk to the two statewide teachers’ unions and various school management organizations about some concerns of theirs. In addition, we have committed to working through some issues with bilingual education advocates.
The good news is that we really did make a big splash in the Senate Education Committee, with the flood of witness slips and the show of momentum. (By “flood,” I mean there were literally 630 proponents who filled out a slip! It was INCREDIBLE!) We need to continue asking our legislators to co-sponsor the bill.
The House version of the Illinois Right to Read Act will be voted on Wednesday at 8am in the House Education: Curriculum & Policy Committee. This means we need witness slips again for the House version submitted before Wednesday 8am. Everyone in your household can fill out a slip, and feel free to pass this along to other friends, family, and literacy advocates.
https://bit.ly/HB5032-witness
Important: Make sure you check the “Proponent” box.
For Organization/Representation, put Self or Dyslexia Buddy Network
Choose “Record of Appearance” or “Written Statement Filed.”
(If you have a written statement, save it as a PDF with HB 5032 proponent in the title and email to this longest email address I’ve ever seen: elementaryandsecondaryeducationschoolcurriculumandpolicies@hds.ilga.gov.)