Nebraska First Lady Suzanne Pillen visits a classroom in the Educare of Omaha at Indian Hill, where a team of literacy advocates launched the Nebraska Growing Readers initiative in October 2023. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN — The Nebraska State Board of Education signed off on steering $80 million in federal and private funding over the next five years to boost literacy for K-12 students.

The eight-member education board Friday unanimously awarded the first two years of a $55 million federal grant to 46 recipients and accepted $25 million in new private funding for a similar purpose from the Sherwood Foundation. Both buckets of funds will be doled out over the next five years. Board members will consider how to spend the private dollars at a future meeting.

Board member Li

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