(WCAX) – A literacy bill to strengthen reading instruction and provide schools with additional learning tools is expected to be voted on by the Senate committee where Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vt., is a ranking member. The National Parents Union is urging Sanders to back the READ Act, which it says would help states like Vermont strengthen reading instruction and improve literacy rates by providing tools to recognize and support struggling students earlier. The bill would provide federal funding to help schools adopt evidence-based reading instruction. According to 2024 results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 31 percent of Vermont fourth-graders and 29 percent of eighth-graders are reading proficiently. If the bill advances unanimously in committee, it has the opportunity to be hotlined, allowing it to pass the entire Senate with unanimous consent.