By Jeb Bush
This article originally appeared in the Orange County Register
How can teachers teach kids to read if teachers don’t have the training they need to teach reading the right way?
What sounds like some sort of academic tongue twister is actually a huge challenge right now for many states, including California.
With the nation’s literacy crisis front and center, lawmakers from coast to coast are passing policies to ensure kids are learning to read from educators who are using proven methods—based on the science of reading—that yield positive outcomes.
Until recently, California seemed ready to join this national movement toward high-quality literacy instruction.
With support from more than 50 organizations, including the California PTA and NAACP, Assembly Bill 2222 would have provided much-needed support and training for teachers.
It should have had a clear path to victory.
Instead, it died without ever receiving a hearing.
That’s because the California Teachers Association—among the most powerful special interest groups in the state—claimed it might give teachers less say over reading curricula.
