Pennsylvania HB 1597: An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in terms and courses of study, providing for after-school reading program.

Bill Text

PRINTER'S NO. 1910
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 1597
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY ORTITAY, COOK AND NEILSON, JUNE 11, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, JUNE 11, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," in terms and courses of study,
providing for after-school reading program.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 1529. After-school Reading Program.--(a) Beginning
with the 2026-2027 school year and continuing with each school
year thereafter, a school entity may establish an after-school
or summer-peer tutoring program that employs teen leaders from
the school entity's community to deliver one-to-one structured
literacy tutoring and uses an evidence-based phonics curriculum
to students enrolled in kindergarten through grade two at the
school entity to help improve reading proficiency.
(b) A school entity may collaborate with businesses,
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educational organizations and other nonprofit organizations to
establish the program.
(c) Not later than December 31, 2025, the department shall
develop guidance for school entities to establish a program
under this section. The guidance shall include a model
curriculum and training modules.
(d) A program under this section shall be based on the
following principles:
(1) The program shall employ one-to-one tutoring using an
evidence-based phonics curriculum.
(2) Teen leaders shall be trained as individual literacy
tutors using leveled books and decoding strategies from the
evidence-based phonics curriculum.
(3) Teachers participating in the program shall be trained
in the evidence-based phonics curriculum and assessment tools.
(4) The program shall be conducted after school or during
the summer for three (3) to four (4) days per week for forty-
five (45) sessions.
(5) Each tutoring session shall be for ninety (90) minutes.
During a session, each student shall receive forty-five (45)
minutes of one-to-one tutoring and support in foundational
reading skills and forty-five (45) minutes of reading enrichment
in a group setting or assistance with homework.
(e) Beginning September 1, 2027, and continuing each
September 1 thereafter, a school entity that establishes a
program under this section shall submit to the department a
report for the prior school year. The report shall include the
following data:
(1) The number of students served.
(2) The number of teen leaders employed and trained.
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(3) Pre-assessment and post-assessment data on student
reading proficiency.
(4) Any partnership with a business, educational
organization or other nonprofit organization assisting in the
program.
(5) Funding utilized.
(f) A school entity may use Federal funds, State funds or
private grants or gifts to implement a program under this
section. State funds appropriated for the purpose of this
section shall be prioritized for school entities with a high
percentage of students in kindergarten through grade two who are
not meeting grade-level reading benchmarks.
(g) As used in this section, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Decoding strategy." A technique used to break down words
into smaller parts such as phonemes or word families, prefixes
and suffixes to help readers pronounce and understand unfamiliar
words.
"Department." The Department of Education of the
Commonwealth.
"Evidence-based phonics curriculum." A curriculum designed
and implemented based on research and data demonstrating the
curriculum's effectiveness in teaching students to read and that
involves systematic and explicit instruction in the
relationships between sounds and letters.
"Leveled book." A book characterized and categorized by the
level of difficulty of the text.
"Peer tutoring program." A program that provides paid work
experience that affords the opportunity for a teen leader to
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provide tutoring services to younger students in their own
school entity community.
"Reading enrichment." Activity that connects reading to
real-world issues and experiences to help students understand
the relevance of what they are reading and make it more
meaningful.
"School entity." A school district, intermediate unit, area
career and technical school, charter school, cyber charter
school or regional charter school.
"Structured literacy." Th