At least 18 states have elected new governors after Tuesday’s midterms, with Democrats gaining five seats to hold a majority—a shift that could have implications for the science of reading movement.
Over the past decade, states have pushed reading reforms, many looking to the playbook developed by Mississippi, which saw a rise in 4th grade scores on national reading tests after passing legislation requiring teacher training and use of evidence-based methods.
Some governors on both sides of the aisle have taken a lead role in promoting literacy policy in their states—Republican Kay Ivey in Alabama, Republican Mike DeWine in Ohio, and Democrat Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, among others.
Literacy policy has become a bipartisan issue, said Ashley DeMauro Mullins, the national legislative director for ExcelinEd in Action, the advocacy and legislative arm of ExcelinEd, an education nonprofit founded by Jeb Bush, Florida’s former Republican governor.
“Governors of both parties both recognize that getting kids reading proficiently by the end of these early grades is really fundamental to everything else we ask schools to accomplish later,” she said.
Still, red and blue states have approached reading policy slightly differently, said Elena Aydarova, an associate professor of educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who has studied the science of reading movement’s policy implications.
“We have historically had a bit of difference with Republican lawmakers focusing more on test-driven accountability: Schools have to demonstrate results,” she said. “With Democratic leaders, there’s more of a concern about funding, investments, support.”
Read on for a run-down of newly elected state leaders’ positions on literacy policy, and what school leaders and teachers might expect to see in the months ahead.
Newly elected Democrats say literacy is a priority
In five states, control of the governor’s mansion moved from Republicans to Democrats—Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, and Texas. All of these states have passed literacy policies in the past several years.
In May, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed the Georgia Early Literacy Act into law. It provides funding for school-based literacy coaches, creates a literacy coaching certification, and requires the state education department to approve instructional materials and universal screening tools designed to catch students who struggle with reading.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, who won the race for the Georgia governorship against Republican Rick Jackson, has said literacy will continue to be a priority for the state. Her platform included a plan to guarantee pre-K access for all 4-year-olds.
“If Georgia wants stronger reading outcomes, then Georgia has to strengthen the years before first grade,” her proposal reads.
But keeping that campaign promise could be an uphill battle, the Georgia Recorder reported in June. Bottoms proposed funding the program through a tax on casinos, but prior legislative proposals to legalize gambling in the state have not been successful.
At the same time, the incoming Georgia schools chief, Democrat Lydia Powell, has raised concerns about implementation of the state’s Early Literacy Act. She has also praised the law, but said the $70 million set aside to train and support literacy coaches may not be sufficient.
“If we don’t have a statewide process to roll out that legislation, and we don’t have appropriate funding, you’re going to see differences in school districts like you do now,” Powell said, in an August interview with Atlanta News First. “We put a lot more money in something like school vouchers, which is $100 million. The priority isn’t really there.”
In Ohio, Iowa, and Nevada, newly elected Democratic governors have promised to focus on reading, though issues of school funding and private school choice programs often played a more central role in their platforms.
Democrat Amy Acton, who won the Ohio governor’s race against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, has said she would keep the current Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s literacy programs in place, and expand the focus on reading instruction.
In Iowa, Democrat Rob Sand defeated Republican Zach Lahn to win the governor’s seat. He has said that schools should focus on “math and reading, not political agendas from either extreme.” Sand has also said he would veto any proposed legislation putting forth “book bans.”
Democrat Aaron Ford, incoming Nevada governor, has said he supports placing literacy coaches in every elementary school.
Then, there’s Texas. Over the past two years, the state education agency, helmed by commissioner Mike Morath, has developed reading materials and requirements featuring Christian teachings—garnering significant controversy.
In 2024, the Republican-controlled state board of education approved Bluebonnet Learning, a state-developed curriculum that included Bible stories in reading instruction for kids in grades K-5. Two years later, the state board approved a list of required reading for students in grades K-12, which included 10 different selections from the Bible and several Christian parables.
Proponents of these changes have argued that the Bible is a core text in American culture and instrumental to understanding literature and history. Opponents say the materials invite proselytization to students.
Now, majority control of the state board could flip to the Democrats. Control of the board comes down to one seat in District 8, where Democrat Dana Van De Walker is outperforming Republican incumbent Audrey Young by just over 500 votes. The final results have yet to be announced.
Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who won the Texas governor’s race against incumbent Greg Abbott, is also likely to bring big change to schools. While Hinojosa hasn’t made reading curriculum a focus of her campaign, she has promised to audit the state department of education’s vendor contracts and fire Morath on her first day in office.
Republican governors double down on raising reading scores
In a few states, newly elected Republican governors have promised to double down on raising reading scores.
Republican Mike Mazzei, who won the Oklahoma governor’s race against Democrat Cyndi Munson, has pledged to appoint a statewide literacy director “to replicate the Mississippi model that took them from 50th to 1st in reading outcomes.”
He has criticized the reading curricula approved by Oklahoma’s state department of education, saying that “most of those are still infested with this nonsense of word-association-based reading that created such a disaster.” Mazzei said he would sign an executive order directing the state’s education department to disallow any programs that include disproven methods.
In Alabama, Republican Tommy Tuberville won the governor’s race against Democrat Doug Jones. Tuberville, currently a U.S. Senator for Alabama, has proposed extending the state’s early reading and math policies through 8th grade—adding reading and math coaches to middle schools, requiring state-approved curriculum, and offering tutoring. (Tuberville has also pledged to remove what he calls “explicit books” from kids’ sections in libraries.)
A few states have already begun to focus on adolescent literacy policy, said Mullins of ExcelinEd in Action, referencing laws passed in Mississippi and Virginia that extend reading support through middle school. That trend may continue next year, she said.
Incoming Florida Gov. Byron Donalds, a Republican, has also proposed a plan for raising reading achievement. He has said he will establish funding incentives for districts tied to improvements in reading scores, and seek waivers for funding flexibility from the U.S. Department of Education to redirect federal money to “proven literacy programs.”
3rd grade retention policies remain controversial
Eighteen states currently have policies requiring schools to hold students back in 3rd grade if they don’t demonstrate proficient reading skills, with some exceptions.
Research on these policies show that they can improve reading outcomes, but also that they have a disproportionate impact on Black and low-income students. Retention mandates are often unpopular with educators and Democratic lawmakers.
In a few midterm races, states’ retention mandates have been a point of discussion.
In Michigan, where current Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer repealed the retention component of the state’s reading law in 2024, newly elected Democrat Jocelyn Benson said she would leave retention decisions up to teachers. (Her opponent, Republican John James, had supported reinstating the retention mandate.)
Debate over holding 3rd graders back has heated up in Nevada, where a retention mandate is set to go into effect in 2028. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who lost his bid for reelection on Tuesday to Democrat Aaron Ford, signed that policy into law in 2023.
Ford said in May that he would not repeal the retention mandate, but was open to reexamining the law.
And in Oklahoma, the newly elected governor and state schools chief have differing opinions on holding students back.
Mazzei has said he supports a 3rd grade reading gate. But incoming state superintendent Robert Franklin, also a Republican, has expressed ambivalence about the policy.
Oklahoma’s recently passed reading legislation, the 2026 Strong Readers Act, requires schools to hold back 3rd graders who score below a basic level on state reading tests and fail a second literacy assessment. Franklin called the strict cut-offs “problematic.”
“Holding them back from a 4th grade math opportunity because they need some extra help with their reading is not necessarily really strategic. It’s also perhaps a little bit cumbersome,” he said in an interview with Oklahoma’s News on 6 on Wednesday.
