MTS Quick Hit: LETRS to the governor
There's More To The Story in a local media article on NC reading achievement
Something stuck in my craw this week after reading a WRAL article about the reading achievement for K-3 students.
Here's the section of the article that made me do a double-take:
Truitt and the state lawmakers behind the new program are Republicans. But unlike some of the politically divisive culture-war issues that have focused on public schools recently, there is bipartisan agreement on the new reading approach. Also on Tuesday Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper praised the program and Truitt's implementation of it.
"I've sat on the floor of elementary schools," Cooper said. "I have looked at the data. I'm sold on the effectiveness of the science of reading. This is something that we all came together to do in a bipartisan way. We all agree this is the way to go. I think now, the challenge is to make a real investment in teachers and teacher assistants to make sure we keep them and they are well trained."
Amazing. Why?
The governor is praising the program he initially killed. And WRAL doesn't mention that to its readers.
Cooper vetoed legislation that would have gotten our kids on track in reading years earlier — and probably could have averted some of the massive learning loss elementary students experienced when the governor closed schools during the pandemic.
The bill Cooper vetoed was Senate Bill 438, the Excellent Public Schools Act (2019).
The entire reason he chucked it? Read his message.
This veto was number 34 for Cooper, who is now on veto 102.
State Supt. Catherine Truitt and Sen. Leader Phil Berger were able to get the Science of Reading into legislation again in 2021, under Senate Bill 387, also named the Excellent Public Schools Act.
That bill was pretty much the same thing as the 2019 bill, yet Cooper signed SB 387.
Under the Science of Reading, Truitt and her staff ramped up training for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, known as LETRS, as fast as they could, but it should have happened years earlier.
K-3 kids are surpassing the nation in reading under LETRS, but Cooper's 2019 veto said, “This legislation tries to put a Band-Aid on a program where implementation has clearly failed.”
Check my author page at North State Journal this week, I will also have a write-up about the gains in literacy announced by the Department of Public Instruction.
Read more about K-3 reading gains and LETRS: