What if Garrison Keillor is Right?

Garrison Keillor has a lot to say about a lot of things, and one of them is education. In this article, published in 2008, he talked generally about the state of the US public school system, and specifically about the state of the schools in Minnesota:

. . . And then there is the grief that old righteous people inflict on the young, such as our public schools. I’m looking at U.S. Department of Education statistics on reading achievement and see that here in Minnesota – – proud, progressive Minnesota – – on a 500-point test (average score: 225), 27 percent of 4th graders score below basic proficiency, and black and Hispanic kids score 30-some points lower than whites on average, and 30 percent of public school kids who come from households of poverty score 27 points lower than those who don’t come from poverty.

Reading is the key to everything. Teaching children to read is a fundamental moral obligation of the society. That 27 percent are at serious risk of crippling illiteracy is an outrageous scandal. Nice folks are failing these kids, but when they are called on it, they get very huffy. When the grand pooh-bah PhDs of education stand up and blow, they speak with great confidence about theories of teaching, and considering the test results, the bums ought to be thrown out.

There is much evidence that teaching phonics really works, especially with kids with learning disabilities, a growing constituency. But because phonics is associated with behaviorism and with conservatives, and because the Current Occupant has spoken on the subject, my fellow liberals are opposed.

Lord, I beg you to send angels to watch over 4th graders who are struggling to read, because the righteous among us are not doing the job.

Unfortunately, he is probably correct. Our schools are NOT doing a good job of teaching children to read, because they’ve watered down phonics or eliminated it completely.

If you would like to discuss a plan to teach your child to read or to improve his weak reading skills, contact us at 503.328.9500.

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