Political Quotes

“I once again repeat my praise of his efforts as well as those of the chairman of the committee. Senator Jeffords and Senator Kennedy have done incredible work in bringing us together on this important issue... To reach our goal of helping all children, of ensuring that every child knows how to read, the reading programs authorized by this bill draw on 30 years of research on reading and reading instruction. These programs will enhance our ability to help every child succeed. We know that we have a lot of work to do. By way of background, I will share with my colleagues some of the troubling statistics about reading in this country: 20 million children are at risk for reading failure; 75 percent of children with reading difficulties who are now helped by the time they reach the age of 9 will still have poor reading skills at the end of high school. That is why early intervention is so important. Eighty to 90 percent of children identified with learning disabilities have their primary deficits in reading and language-based processes. We know that fewer than a third of our fourth graders can read at grade level.”