TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas is setting aside $15 million from its federal pandemic funds to target early literacy, state education officials said.
Kansas Commissioner of Education Randy Watson said Wednesday that the Kansas State Board of Education has been committed to early literacy for many years because it is critical to long-term academic success.
"With the learning loss created by the pandemic and the federal funds made available to address this loss, this is the right opportunity at the right time," Watson said in a news release.
The money comes from federal funding that must be used to address learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kansas plans a three-year initiative to train educators in the science of reading. It intends to focusing training on pre-kindergarten through third-grade teachers, English as a second language educators, reading specialists and special education teachers across the state.
