Note: This opinion piece was first published in the DC Journal on November 25, 2024.
With a new administration and Congress poised to take power next year and so much uncertainty regarding how the United States will approach foreign assistance, now is the time to reauthorize the READ Act. This pivotal piece of legislation helped the U.S. prioritize access to education for the world’s children and young people and transformed the way the U.S. government delivers these life-changing programs.
Today, more than 251 million children are not in school and three out of four children in developing countries cannot read and understand a simple text by the age of 10. Efforts to reach Sustainable Development Goal 4 — “ensuring inclusive, equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all” — are also limited due to a $97 billion annual funding gap that prevents low- and lower-middle-income countries from investing in these critical programs.
Access to education is fundamental to human dignity and human progress and must not be overlooked as the world becomes more complex and interconnected. Indeed, the United States has taken steps to recognize the importance of investing in international basic education programs and streamlining its approach to do so.
Initially passed in 2017, the bipartisan Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development (READ) Act established a comprehensive, integrated U.S. strategy that improved educational opportunities and addressed critical barriers to children’s school attendance, retention and completion. This has been accompanied by rigorous monitoring and evaluation efforts and a yearly report to Congress and the public.
The READ Act also created a “Senior Coordinator” position within the Agency for International Development responsible for the efficient development, implementation and coordination of U.S. basic education programs. It has allowed the government to work closely with countries to strengthen systems in order to build long-term sustainability and country ownership and helped ensure a continuum of education services for children affected by conflict and other emergencies.
This improvement in transparency and accountability of U.S.-funded international basic education programs has ensured that valuable taxpayer dollars have the most effect on children worldwide and has helped leverage U.S. contributions to achieve a greater overall effect.
As the head of a leading broad-based coalition advocating for access to quality education for young people worldwide, I have heard how the READ Act has made a real effect. From developing a consistent definition of what the United States means by “basic education” to fostering interagency collaboration, the READ Act has made a difference in the way the U.S. delivers this critical foreign assistance.
The READ Act of 2017 expired September 30, 2023, and the READ Reauthorization Act of 2023 was introduced by senators Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and representatives Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, and Grace Meng, D-New York, to reauthorize the original legislation for an additional five years. The READ Reauthorization Act has passed in the Senate but has not passed the House of Representatives.
The U.S. government has long been a leader in global education, and the READ Act increased the effectiveness of this work. Reauthorizing for an additional five years will ensure that the U.S. government continues to update its strategy to improve foundational literacy and numeracy in international basic education and that the U.S. effectively contributes to realizing quality education globally.
Nita Lowey, a former U.S. representative from New York and chair of the House Appropriations Committee, recently shared with us that it was her honor “to champion the bipartisan READ Act” while she was in Congress and that she hopes her friends and former colleagues will “carry on our great work by reauthorizing the READ Act before the end of the year and ensuring we keep helping millions of girls and boys around the world go to school and receive a quality education.”
Before it’s too late, Congress must send a message that access to basic education for the world’s children and young people remains a priority for the United States.
The House of Representatives must pass this legislation before the end of the 118th Congress so that it can be signed into law. Especially during these uncertain times, this final act by the current Congress will help guarantee that the United States can continue to make progress on the most fundamental of interventions — ensuring that all those who aspire to achieve their dreams can do so by accessing quality education.