Marietta looks to hire 40 reading specialists, give extra $5K to teachers with reading credentials
Jan. 25—Marietta City Schools has made improving student literacy, particularly in elementary schools, its top priority in 2023.
That is evident based on two proposals from Superintendent Grant Rivera that the school board will consider Thursday, both aimed at bolstering reading levels for struggling students.
The first is a proposal to hire 40 full-time reading specialists to serve students in grades 1-5. The hires would be made for the 2023-24 school year and are budgeted to cost $5.5 million.
Rivera said the goal of the hires is to provide extra support for students reading below grade level. During a 60- to 90-minute daily reading block in each class, teachers are responsible for instructing around 20-24 students, Rivera said, noting that the extra support from the specialists is expected to result in a 10-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio during those blocks.
"We will make sure that students have access to a teacher in a classroom where they can be most successful, and it will involve every available resource, every available teacher making sure that every child has the opportunity to read on grade level," Rivera said.
The other recommendation Rivera will make to the board Thursday proposes a $5,000 supplement for credentialed teachers or coaches teaching reading to Marietta elementary schoolers. The supplement will be available for all current teachers and future hires who have one of five credentials listed by the district.
Rivera said $1.5 million will be budgeted for the supplements, and added that middle and high school teachers could receive the supplement if they have the appropriate credentials and teach a reading-specific class. The district will start paying the supplements in May, when Rivera said he expects about 240 teachers to have completed the district's Science of Reading training.
"We are making a statement about the expertise and the training of every single teacher who will be in front of our students in Marietta," Rivera said. "If we value literacy, and we value students reading on grade level and reaching their fullest reading potential, we must in Marietta honor those teachers who are experts in their field and recruit the very best who wish to come to Marietta.
Literacy has been a priority for the district in recent years, Rivera said, pointing to the "Literacy and Justice for All" initiative introduced in May 2021. That initiative, funded with nearly $1 million in grant money from the United Way, was designed to make every child in Marietta a proficient reader by the end of third grade.
Ahead of Thursday's meeting to vote on the two proposals, Kerry Minervini, chair of the Marietta school board, told the MDJ the board is in full support of the meeting and the reasons it is being called.
"Literacy across the district is our top priority right now," Minervini said. "Everything is about the priority of our students and making sure that they're getting the best education that they can get."
Minervini said implementing these changes now will allow the district to hit the ground running next school year with some of the best teachers for improving student literacy.
Rivera said the district is setting a standard in education with the two new reading initiatives.
"We believe that Marietta has written the book on literacy," Rivera said. "We are about to change every single classroom in grades 1-5 next year to give our students the greatest opportunity for success, and we believe, in doing that, we will have the very best teachers with the very best training who are leaders in their field nationally in the science of reading."
