STATE FUNDING GUIDE

Minnesota

The READ Act requires every district to adopt evidence-based literacy instruction, screen K-3 students, and submit an annual local literacy plan to MDE. It pairs mandates with money: ongoing Literacy Incentive Aid plus one-time READ Act state aid (about $37.2 million in FY2025, distributed per-pupil). Statute allows these funds to pay for educator training, literacy leads and intervention specialists, and approved instructional materials — a direct route to funding Tier 2/3 intervention purchases. Starting in 2026-27, districts must use only evidence-based literacy interventions.

Minnesota READ Act (Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act, 2023)

How schools fund reading intervention in Minnesota

The state-level programs below are the streams Minnesota districts most often use for evidence-based reading intervention purchases, alongside the federal streams available everywhere.

Literacy Incentive Aid

Ongoing formula aid paid to districts and charters; under 2024 law it must support evidence-based reading instruction aligned to the local literacy plan, with eligible uses including acquiring approved instructional materials and employing intervention specialists.

READ Act one-time state aid (FY2025)

One-time appropriation (about $37.2 million statewide, the greater of $2,000 or $36.06 per student) for READ Act implementation, usable for the same purposes as Literacy Incentive Aid, including training and approved materials.

Approved-list note: MDE, with CAREI, reviewed intervention programs and posts an identified evidence-based intervention list (completed November 2025); districts are not required to buy only from the list, but from 2026-27 all literacy interventions must be evidence-based and MDE strongly encourages approved programs.

Official state resource →