Federal Literacy Debate May Go Down to the Wire

By David J. Hoff

Washington

Congress has six weeks to choose between spending $210 million on a new reading program or channeling the money to special education.

The reading program's long odds of capturing the bounty improved last week when the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee unanimously approved a bill that would authorize funding for professional development of reading teachers.

But that bill has notable differences with a House-passed literacy measure, raising questions about whether Congress will meet a July 1 deadline to authorize the $210 million program or instead allow its funding to shift into state special education...