Kudos to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings for taking to the pages of the Washington Post to defend DC's endangered school voucher program. But I can't help wondering, yet again, what's up at 400 Maryland Avenue. I've never viewed Spellings as a strong supporter of school choice, though she continues to fight hard to protect this $13-million-a-year program. (Maybe it's time I admit that she's a voucher advocate, after all.) But what's beyond doubt is that she's a believer in scientifically-based reading programs (once claiming "phonics" as her religion). And yet, when it comes to the impending death of her beloved billion-dollar-a-year Reading First program, all she does is send letters and issue statements.
Madame Secretary and associates: may I suggest that the next time you place a Post op-ed, you make it about Reading First?
