Teacher Testimony Reverses Decision

Over 50 teachers in the Lodi (California) Unified School District attended the local board of trustees meeting to effectively keep Reading Recovery up and running when it was expected the intervention would be discontinued at the end of this school year.

University trainer Barbara Schubert, who gave testimony at the meeting, reports, “Over 50 teachers attended…during their Thanksgiving break, to make their voices heard.Among them Frank Purdy, former assistant superintendent in the Central Valley and president of the Reading Recovery Council of California, came out of retirement to speak on the behalf of the program.” Also influential in the decision was a letter to the Lodi newspaper by Lance Gentile, Reading Recovery teacher leader.

The board of trustees had previously announced Reading Recovery’s discontinuation. The district was planning to present state educators with a letter stating it was redirecting its resources to training all teachers in another program, leaving no room for Reading Recovery. However, they listened to the testimony in favor of the program and decided to delay a decision.

Reading Recovery reaches about 180 first graders a year for one-to-one instruction according to the district. The Lodi superintendent said he expects Reading Recovery to continue throughout the 2008–09 school year because the district would not attempt to reassign teachers in midyear.