JASA SANTOS Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Monday, February 4, 2008 12:00 am
Budget cuts to a federal reading program have some Natrona County principals concerned about finding money to keep the program in their schools.
Six Natrona County schools use the Reading First curriculum, a federal program designed specifically for improving reading instruction at schools with large numbers of at-risk students. Statewide, 17 Wyoming schools use the Reading First curriculum.
The cuts are part of a omnibus spending bill President George W. Bush signed into law in December.
"We've seen drastic results," said Tom Rodabaugh, principal at Mountain View Elementary. "I see it as such a high need that we'll find a way to maintain it."
Reading First is based on scientifically researched methods for teaching children. The program was authorized as part of the federal No Child Left Behind act to ensure every child reads at or above grade level by the end of third grade.
"It's a really intensive, deep and hard program," Rodabaugh said. "It's not only improved our reading. It's improved our math and writing."
Schools nationally are projected to lose 60 percent of their Reading First budgets, and it's the reading coaches, professional development and instructional materials that are likely to go first.
Leslie Madden, principal of Willard Elementary, said it's a shame to cut the budget for a program that works well for the students it was designed for. Willard saw a 51 percent increase in proficient students for 2006-2007, and has been using Reading First for the past four years.
Madden said Willard's Reading First budget should be fairly stable in the coming years. All the curriculum materials, such as Promethean boards, were purchased early on.
Rodabaugh said he won't feel the money crunch until the 2010-2011 school year. Until then, he'll be working on finding the funds to keep his reading coaches on staff.
Reading coaches train new employees in the program's curriculum, meet with parents and students and monitor student progress frequently. Coaches help teachers catch students in danger of falling behind, and work to get them back on track.
Madden agreed with Rodabaugh that the budget cut was probably politically-based. Reading First came under several federal investigations and congressional hearings from 2005 to 2007.
The U.S. Department of Education's inspector general worried that federal officials and consultants had gone beyond their authority in steering states to adopt curricula and assessments for the program.
"We will sustain this program if we have to have bake sales," Madden said with a laugh. "Our school will never drop Reading First as long as I'm here."
Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com.