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Reading First's scandalous underbelly

Published September 26, 2006 at midnight

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The independent inspector general at the Department of Education did not pull punches in a report on the administration of Reading First, a centerpiece Bush administration initiative.

In the years 2002-2003, the program was shot through with political favoritism, conflicts of interest, mismanagement and complaints that program administrators ignored the law in trying to force states to select certain favored publishers of textbooks and curriculums. Meanwhile, review panels were stacked with department favorites to ensure that favored conclusions would be reached.

This is not a small academic tempest in the faculty lounge. The Reading First program has dispensed over $4.8 billion to 1,500 districts.

The Reading First program has been generally well-received and found to be effective, but this kind of political meddling could quickly turn it toxic with the states and Congress. It speaks well that the department's own inspector general was the first to blow the whistle.

The grossest abuses took place before the current secretary, Margaret Spellings, took over, and she quickly promised to adopt all the recommendations. That's fine, but the scandal overall is extremely disturbing given the still expanding federal role in education.