Sign on to Assemblymember Carroll's letter, to be sent to the members of the New York State Board of Regents.

This petition calls for New York State to respond proactively to the statewide literacy crisis by ensuring that every child in NYS has access to high quality, evidence-based school curricula.

Below you can read the content of the letter. Please sign on at the bottom of the page.

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Assemblymember Robert Carroll
New York State Assembly, District 44

To the Members of the New York State Board of Regents
New York State Education Department
89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234

As you know, New York is in the midst of a literacy crisis, and we must act with urgency. According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 72% of New York City fourth graders are reading below grade level. One in five students has dyslexia, yet too many are still being taught through outdated “balanced literacy” and whole language models that decades of research have proven ineffective.

The Board of Regents has taken important first steps through the Path Forward initiative to align educator preparation and curriculum with the science of reading. But much more remains to be done. Without statewide standards, universal screening, and accountability, far too many students will continue to fall through the cracks.

Other states that have adopted these reforms, including some that spend far less on public education, are making rapid gains, while New York continues to fall behind. In the last seven years, Mississippi climbed from 46th to 7th nationally in the share of students with foundational reading skills. New York’s stagnant reading scores have kept it stuck below the national average.

New York is losing to Mississippi because of its perpetual failure to act on basic literacy reforms. A recent Education Trust–NY report found that Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study, a curriculum discredited by experts, remains the most widely used reading program in New York, taught in roughly 40% of districts, more than any other.

Research is unequivocal: these methods do not teach children how to decode and comprehend text, leaving thousands of students without the tools to succeed.

Children with dyslexia should not need a lawyer or a private school placement to secure their right to read. Yet, as long as New York allows districts to adopt failed curricula, that will remain the reality.

I am calling on the State Education Department to impose a statewide mandate requiring every public school in New York to adopt high-quality, evidence-based literacy curricula aligned to the science of reading. This must include:

• Universal early screening for dyslexia and related learning disabilities.
  
  
• Structured literacy instruction delivered with fidelity in every elementary classroom.
  
  
• Specialized push-in services so children with dyslexia are supported in their schools instead of pushed into private placements.
  
  
• Ongoing training and accountability to ensure teachers are equipped to deliver instruction consistent with the science of reading.
  
  

In addition to Mississippi, states like Connecticut and Virginia, have already acted on this commonsense approach. New York should be leading, not falling behind. Every child in New York deserves to be taught to read, and it is time for the State Education Department to deliver on that promise.

Sincerely,
Assemblymember Robert Carroll