Fox Still Pushing Phonics Instruction House Committee Kills Second Bill, But All Agree Kids Need To Read Better

Defeat isn’t stopping Idaho Schools Superintendent Anne Fox’s push for phonics instruction in elementary schools.

Fox cringed Monday as the House Education Committee killed a bill that would have required new Idaho teachers to have taken a three-credit course in the use of phonics.

On Friday, the committee killed a companion bill that would have required 45 minutes of phonics instruction each day for students in kindergarten and first grade.

But Fox said she sees the bills’ demise as setbacks - not failures - because legislators finally understand the need to boost the reading ability of Idaho children.

“The good news is they don’t disagree that this needs to be addressed,” Fox said.

A report, authorized by the Legislature last fall, shows that 60 percent of Idaho’s fourth-graders can’t read and comprehend books at their grade level.

Fox insists that learning phonics - the specific sounds of each letter of the alphabet - is a remedy.

Fox said her proposed bills would have given students an instant dose of phonics, but the committee’s actions mean children must wait for lawmakers to mull alternative ideas. “This will take a year,” she said. “At least mine would have caused action immediately.”

Lawmakers faulted Fox because she focused on teachers still in training rather than on those already in Idaho’s classrooms. Others said her legislation should cover all components of reading, such as whole language and writing, not just phonics.

Greg Fitch, executive director of the state Board of Education, argued it’s wrong to legislate curriculum.

“It becomes a political issue instead of an education issue,” he said.

But with each jab came words of encouragement for finding a way to better teach children to read.

“It’s not my intention to let this issue go,” House Education Committee Chairman Fred Tilman, R-Boise, said, emphasizing that committee members will have many opportunities to get involved.

The state Board of Education has approved a study committee that is to make proposals to the 1999 Legislature which are to focus on improved standards, assessment tools and the skills of teachers and students.

Fox says the study committee will indeed find better and broader solutions, but she emphasized the need for immediate action to improve the state’s literacy rate.

The struggle over teaching children to read isn’t unique to Idaho.

Fox said her own reading skills are proof of a flawed education system.

And several Idaho lawmakers shared their own reading battles.

Rep. Max Black, R-Boise, told about how his poor reading skills had prevented him from pursuing graduate school.

“If I could sue my school district, I would have,” he said.

“I didn’t know how to get the words out of my head and onto a piece of paper.”

After buying a children’s phonics game last May, Black said, he has needed to use his dictionary only several times this session.

“I’d vote for this bill out of spite,” he said in support of Fox’s proposal, which failed 12-5.

“It’s very disappointing,” Fox said. “I tried to bring the most prominent thing the public told me.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo