A Matter of Character: on Education

George W. Bush: Required Texas schools to teach phonics over whole language

[As governor in 1995, Bush] understood there was empirical, scientific evidence that could help Texas make better decisions about how we teach kids to read. By then, “science” had become a code word for phonics. But the educational establishment was so fanatically wedded to the whole-language method [so proponents] referred to what the “science” had found about reading.

Bush devised legislation that would tie Texas state funding to use of a reading method whose efficacy had been proven, meaning phonics. To create more accountability, schools that did not improve were penalized.

George W. Bush: Pushed standardized testing as a top legislative priority

Under Bush’s proposal, schools would be required to make steady progress toward raising proficiency, with all students required to reach state-defined acceptable levels by 2014. Schools deemed failing for two consecutive years would have to begin to allow students to transfer to better schools. After a third year of failing, they could use public money to hire private firms to tutor students. If a school continued to fail, it had to replace its principal and teachers or reopen as a charter school. Bush wanted vouchers so parents could send their kids to such schools.

George W. Bush: No Child Left Behind Act implements phonics nationally