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Can't We Agree on Reading?

Yesterday, President Obama signed into law a massive omnibus spending bill that contains funding for the nine appropriations bills that were not completed last year, including programs at the Department of Education.  While the bill includes funding for a whole host of programs that have been singled out for elimination by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), it eliminates funding for the highly successful Reading First program. 

To put it plainly, Democrats have eliminated a program to help students, including disadvantaged students and students with disabilities, learn how to read.  Everyone knows that a young child’s ability to read is essential to their academic achievement and success in the later grades and other subjects.  That’s why elimination of this program is so stunning, and short-sighted.

Reading First provides funding to our nation’s highest need schools to implement scientifically-based reading instruction programs in grades K-3.  It serves more than 1.6 million students.  And results from the program are clear.  Nationally, the percentage of third graders in Reading First schools scoring proficient on state reading assessments has grown nearly eight percent, much faster than overall growth.  In addition, state-reported performance data released last year indicates impressive gains in reading comprehension, with improvements seen by nearly every grade and subgroup of students.  28 of 37 states that reported data experienced an increase in the percentage of students proficient in reading comprehension.  Recent reports by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Inspector General, and the Center on Education Policy have all found widespread support for the program among the states.  In one Center on Education Policy report, 97 percent of Reading First school districts said that the program was an important or very important cause for increases in students’ reading scores. 

In eliminating the funding for the program, Democrats point to a series of reports from the Department of Education’s Inspector General in late 2006 and early 2007 documenting management errors by the Department in the early implementation of the program.   This, however, ignores the fact that, over two years ago, the Department implemented all of the Inspector General’s recommendations for improving oversight of the program; actions that the Inspector General has stated addressed his concerns.

As this blog is being written, the U.S. Secretary of Education is testifying before the House Budget Committee on the President’s budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year.  While congressional Democrats have succeeded in ending this vital reading program for now, the Obama Administration could easily restore it by calling for funding in FY 2010.  Unfortunately, the budget blueprint released late last month is silent on whether Reading First should be funded.  We think this is a glaring omission, and one that deserves follow-up during the Secretary’s testimony this morning.

Posted by Education Policy Staff (03-12-2009, 11:05 AM) filed under Education

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