Support the Governor’s reading reforms
Albuquerque Journal
By: Minerva Camp May 20, 2014
http://www.abqjournal.com/403415/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-32.html
Support the Governor’s reading reforms NATIONAL LIBRARY week just passed and I think it’s a fitting time to reflect on the importance of teaching kids to read. That, in turn, makes it a good time to reflect on why we should support Gov. Susana Martinez’s education reforms.
Without strong reading skills, our kids won’t be able to succeed in school and get well-paid jobs. Simply put, companies need employees who are well-equipped to succeed in the workplace. Due to decades of failed education policies, New Mexico is at the bottom of the pack in national reading scores. Improving the way we teach reading is essential if our kids — and our state — are to compete effectively in the future’s global economy.
That’s why we must support Gov. Martinez as she reforms reading education. The governor’s reforms include targeting funding for early reading initiatives and helping struggling schools, holding “Readers Raise the Roof” events throughout the State — fun evening seminars that help parents learn to teach their children to read — and establishing the “New Mexico Reads to Lead” initiative to focus education dollars on helping struggling readers.
The results prove that Gov. Martinez’s policies are improving students’ reading. Four thousand more New Mexican students are now reading at grade level, 11th graders improved their reading proficiency almost 10 percent last year and third graders who participated in the new Reads to Lead program increased their reading scores by an average of 7.8 percent — more than double the statewide average.
If Gov. Martinez continues to change education for the better, our libraries will have to accommodate many more readers and our businesses would have more workers to choose from. I think we can all agree that will be a good problem for them to have. Let’s support Gov. Martinez so that young New Mexicans blossom into great readers.
MINERVA CAMP Albuquerque