Proposed Legislation
Placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar on June 5, 2017
Policy Summary
Aiming to give the nearly 263 million children and adolescents who are out of school worldwide access to a quality education, the READ Act or the Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development Act, has been placed on the Senate calendar after passing the House in January. The act is geared toward providing additional “direction and scrutiny” for how U.S dollars are spent in regards to promoting equal access to education worldwide, with an emphasis on developing and war-torn nations. Amending the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, this bill puts guidelines in place, such as a yearly report to Congress as well as the public on the state of global educational accessibility, in order to add more accountability for how U.S tax dollars are being put to use in the fight for universal access to education. LEARN MORE
Analysis
With a wealth of bipartisan support, this bill passed unanimously in the house carrying a goal of combating what Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce (Republican, 39th District California) has called a humanitarian crisis. Within his remarks after the passing of the bill, Royce reminded all that as many nations have been entrenched in conflict for a decade or more, entire generations of children are now failing to receive “even the most basic education.” Praising the bill’s goal of placing a renewed focus on universal education, Royce spoke of the vast benefits of quality education for all including social mobility, and stability, as well as economic growth. According to the World Bank, “an increase of one standard deviation in student reading and math scores is associated with an increase of two percentage points in annual GDP per capita growth.” LEARN MORE
Engagement Resources
- The Global Campaign for Education– A broad-based coalition, the campaign aims to ensure universal access to a quality education.
- Global Partnership for Education- Bringing together developing countries, donors, international organizations, civil society, teacher organizations, the private sector and foundations, GPE is a multi-stakeholder partnership and funding platform aimed at strengthening education systems in developing countries.
- UNICEF – Working in 190 countries and territories, UNICEF works to promote the rights of every child—including the right to quality education!
This brief was compiled by Cindy Stansbury. If you have comments or want to add the name of your organization to this brief please contact, cindy@usresistnews.org.
