00SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 39                                                                                        
01 Relating to improving reading instruction in elementary and secondary schools.                                          
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
03  WHEREAS illiteracy is growing at an alarming rate throughout the United States; and                                  
04  WHEREAS 24,000,000 adult Americans cannot read and another 50,000,000 are                                            
05 limited to a fourth or fifth grade reading level; and                                                                   
06  WHEREAS the Reading Excellence Act has been introduced in the United States                                          
07 Congress as S.B. 1596 and would provide $210,000,000 for research supporting the use of                                 
08 phonics, for teacher training, and for individual grants for primary and secondary reading                              
09 instruction; and                                                                                                        
10  WHEREAS the use of intensive phonics instruction in the elementary education                                         
11 curriculum would be an effective tool for improving reading skills in the public school system;                         
12  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the enactment of S.B.                                      
13 1596, the Reading Excellence Act, and urges the United States Congress to approve the                                   
14 measure as soon as possible.                                                                                            

01  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the                                         
02 Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                             
03 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.