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Greg Abbott has a plan to make Texas education first in the nation.

To improve teacher skills and student learning in critical early years, the first phase of Greg Abbott’s Educating Texans plan proposes establishing a pilot program to create Reading Excellence Teams which will be made available on an optional basis to schools with low third grade reading scores.

Reading is the most fundamental and important academic skill children can learn in their earliest, formative years. There are lasting consequences from third graders not reading at grade level. A child cannot read to learn without first learning to read. If a student falls behind in reading after third grade, they are far more likely to need ongoing academic intervention and they are four times more likely to drop out of high school. Simply put – reading must be mastered.

–Greg Abbott

Because reading is such a critical skill, all students, including those in low performing schools, should be taught by well-trained, specialist literacy teachers, who have access to a wide range of educational support and training.