House Minority Leader Bradley H.
Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) has appointed State Representative John J. Marsi (R-Dudley) to serve on a six-member legislative conference committee focused on
improving student literacy in Massachusetts.
Marsi is one of three Representatives and three Senators serving on the conference committee, which will work to resolve the differences between recent House and Senate legislation seeking to overhaul the state’s education curriculum to ensure that all students are proficient in reading. Joining Marsi on the conference committee are Representatives Kenneth Gordon (D-Bedford) and Simon Cataldo (D-Concord) and Senators Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett), Jason Lewis (D-Winchester) and Patrick O'Connor (R-Weymouth).
The House passed its version of An Act relative to teacher preparation and student literacy (House Bill 4683) on October 29, while the Senate engrossed its version (Senate Bill 2940) on January 29. Both versions passed unanimously in their respective branches.
The two bills call for twice-yearly screenings of students in kindergarten through grade 3 to test their reading abilities and require that parents and guardians be notified if these screenings show their child has fallen significantly below the relevant grade level benchmarks. The bills also require school districts’ curriculums to incorporate “evidence-based literacy instruction” approved by the state, including “phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension,” but would allow districts to seek waivers to teach an alternative method that is evidence-based and meets quality standards determined by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
One key difference between the two early literacy bills is the House version specifically prohibits school districts from using certain instructional methods such as “three-cueing” which is defined in the bill as “implicit and incidental instruction in word reading, visual memorization of whole words, guessing from context and picture cues” to help students identify words. The Senate bill also contains a provision, not found in the House version, that would create an Early Literacy Fund and initially provide $25 million for DESE to use to develop a K-3 curriculum and provide support to school districts.
“As the Ranking Minority Member of the Joint Committee on Education, John will play an important role on the conference committee as it works to reconcile the differences between the two bills,” said Representative Jones. “Drawing on his expertise and working collaboratively with his fellow conferees, I am confident John will do everything he can to reach a consensus on the policy reforms needed to ensure that every young student across the Commonwealth has the proper instructional materials to succeed in developing their reading skills.”
In addition to his role as the Ranking Minority Member of the Joint Committee on Education, Marsi also currently serves on the House and Joint Ways and Means Committees, the Joint Committee on Children, Families & Persons with Disabilities, and the Joint Committee on Transportation.
Marsi represents the 6th Worcester District, which is comprised of Dudley; Southbridge; Precincts 1, 2, 3, and 4A in Charlton; and Precinct 1 in Spencer.
