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Update and Information

October 14, 1997

Ann O'Leary, Director of Policy and Programs for the America Reads Challenge, along with members of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs have been working closely with the bipartisan staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce staff to reach an agreement on a reading initiative for children in the spirit of President Clinton's America Reads Challenge. We have had productive meetings where we have kept in the forefront our goal to ensure that every child will read well and independently by the end of the third grade. On Thursday, October 9th, we anticipated a bill would go before the full committee for mark-up. Secretary Riley had sent a letter to Chairman Goodling on the previous day to voice his concerns with several areas of the bill still under discussion and encouraged continued bipartisan discussions.

When the committee met on Thursday, Chairman Goodling chose not to bring the bill up for consideration. Instead, he postponed the discussion on the bill until a decision is made on President Clinton's voluntary national test initiative, stating "...because of the Administration's continued attempts to forge ahead with federal testing despite the objections of the U. S. House of Representatives, I have stopped this Committee's work on any reading initiatives." Later in the day, Secretary Riley issued a statement in response to Chairman Goodling's press statement.

In an effort to keep you up-to-date on what is transpiring, I want to share with you the Secretary's letter and his statement. As Secretary Riley says in his statement, "we continue to be optimistic that Congress will do what is right for America's children."

Carol H. Rasco

STATEMENT BY U. S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION RICHARD W. RILEY -- On Chairman Goodling's Action to Halt Mark-Up of Child Literacy Bill -- October 9, 1997

"I was disappointed to learn that Chairman Goodling chose to pull the America Reads/children's literacy bill that we have been working on with his Committee. Chairman Goodling and I agree that reading is the foundation for all other learning and is the most basic skill children need to succeed. Without reading, children often fall further behind in school, lose interest, give up, and drop out. Every child in America should master this first basic skill, and the President is committed to achieving this national goal.

"Earlier this year, Congress agreed to a bi-partisan balanced budget; within that agreement they committed to fund "a child literacy initiative consistent with the President's America Reads Challenge program." Chairman Goodling supported this balanced budget agreement, and the American people expect the Congress to fulfill its part of the bargain. The ultimate accountability for a child's ability to read is taking a challenging national test. We hope that Chairman Goodling would connect his strong interest in literacy with this voluntary national test.

"Reading is a bi-partisan issue. We think it is important to help children read well and independently. We can do that by raising standards for all children and giving them the extra help they need to become good readers that the America Reads Challenge would provide. Trying to stop the voluntary national tests and the reading initiative is hardly the right way to help any child become a better reader.

"We need to pass a bi-partisan bill for our Nation's children. We will continue to work closely with the Chairman and the Committee, and we urge them to work with us in this bi-partisan process. We continue to be optimistic that Congress will do what is right for America's children."

LETTER TO CHAIRMAN GOODLING FROM SECRETARY RILEY

October 8, 1997

The Honorable William Goodling
Chairman, Committee on Education and the Workforce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Goodling:

It is the Administration's goal to work with you to enact a bill that will offer all children a chance to participate in extended learning time opportunities where they can practice and further develop their reading skills. Such programs would include family literacy, in addition to after-school, summer and weekend volunteer tutoring programs, which are built on, and connected with, solid reading programs in our Nation's schools.

The President's America Reads Challenge, announced more than a year ago, reflects these goals and I believe that H.R. 2614, the "Reading Excellence Act," is a positive step to meeting these objectives. I welcome your efforts to go the extra step of stimulating States and schools to ensure that teachers are using the best available research on reading instruction. This is consistent with the Title I requirement, enacted in 1994, that schools use "effective means" in order to help students reach the standards that are expected of all students.

While I appreciate the efforts you have made to work with us on this legislation, I am concerned with several of its provisions, notably the requirements for tutorial assistance grants, and regret that I cannot support the bill in its current form.

The tutorial assistance grants are unnecessarily costly, bureaucratic and disconnected. In order to receive these funds, schools involved would be forced to use paid tutors instead of using well-trained volunteers who would be available at one-third the cost. Fewer children would be served under this model and there would be no guarantee that the tutoring programs would be connected to or supportive of the school's reading program. Furthermore, unlike the model put forth in the Administration's America Reads Challenge Act, these grants would lead to fragmentation of services and would not encourage the entire community to mobilize and organize around the need to improve their children's reading skills. While we support local flexibility for program design, it is not appropriate to impose these very specific and costly provisions on States or school districts who want to participate in America Reads.

I am also concerned that some provisions and definitions in the bill are far too prescriptive in a number of areas, that the lines for accountability for grant making are blurred, and that there is no national evaluation component. I further object to the new mandate imposed on schools participating in the Federal Work Study program.

These outstanding issues prevent the Administration from supporting the "Reading Excellence Act" at this time, but I urge you to continue to work with us in this bipartisan process to help meet the need to improve the reading skills of our Nation's children.

The Office of Management and Budget advises that there is no objection to the submission of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program.

Sincerely,

Richard W. Riley

The America Reads Challenge
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