Why can't George read?

(Photo of Bush & Margaret Spelling by Chinadaily.com)

Not so long ago, before the disaster known as G. W. Bush, the Republican Party wanted to abolish the federal Department of Education.

I'm not sure what happened, but the next thing I heard was that G.W., the fearless White House intellectual without a reading level, was not only not getting rid of the Department of Education, but was brandishing a big, new and expensive program called "No Child Left Behind."

This program has been another disaster, some called it "All Children Left Behind."

An important facet of the No Child Left Behind law was a reading program, "Reading First," which introduces special reading instruction into elementary schools. Bush and his education secretary, Margaret Spelling, thought they had a winner.

Unfortunately, like most of Bush's programs, a winner it was not! Although the federal government has spent about $6 billion (yes, that's billion!) on Reading First, it has flopped, totally!

The Institute of Education Sciences, an "independent arm of the Education Department," found, through an extensive study, that there was no difference in reading comprehension scores among students who were part of the Reading First program and students who were not part of the program.

Typically, last year Spelling saluted the program as a success, and released data she said showed Reading First schools had higher reading comprehension scores. Oops! Ms. Spelling, a Bush crony, somehow forgot to compare those scores with schools that didn't use Reading First.

A typical ethical lapse among Bush appointees.


So, after six years and $6 billion, here are the results of Reading First: It did no good whatsoever!

[The program was also rife with corruption, again typical of a Bush operation. RMC Research Corporation was given $40 million worth of contracts to help put Reading First together. However, RMC also assisted in assessing how reading is taught in the classroom and trained classroom observers, which meant it was "in effect, involved in judging its own work."

Congressional investigations have found evidence of other conflicts of interest. "For example, officials who gave states advice on which teaching materials to buy had financial ties to publishers of such materials."

Ho, hum! Just another day in Bushdom!]