Paul Coverdell: “as we have noted throughout this debate, we have a lot of Americans who are exceedingly deficient in reading. When more…”

“as we have noted throughout this debate, we have a lot of Americans who are exceedingly deficient in reading. When more than 40 million Americans cannot read a phone book, a menu, or the directions on a medicine bottle, and only 4 out of 10 third graders can read at grade level or above, new solutions are needed--I might add, not programs, but solutions. This amendment, based on Senate bill 1596, the Coverdell-Gorton Reading Excellence Act, will help children learn to read. The reading excellence amendment would focus on training teachers to teach reading. Fewer than 10 percent of our teachers have received formal instruction on how to teach reading. My amendment would also send 95 percent of the funds associated with it directly to the classroom, which I know the Chair would applaud, as he has been the author of the money-to-the-classroom legislation. It requires that funds be spent on research-based reading instruction, methods with proven track records. It provides extra tutorial assistance for at-risk children, as well as literacy assistance for parents, so they can be their children's first and most important teacher. It is already funded. That is unique here. Two hundred and ten million dollars were set aside in the fiscal year 1998 Labor-HHS appropriations bill specifically for literacy work. However, this is contingent on the passage of an authorization bill by July 1, 1998.”