IT ISN’T THE MONEY: Teach the children well: From rural Oregon to Houston, students are learning more.

Third-graders at Adrian Elementary School, in the poorest county in Oregon, have the highest reading proficiency scores in the state, reports Steven Mitchell of The Enterprise. Test scores were low before the pandemic in rural Malheur County. But four years ago, the district hired a reading specialist and began teaching students the sounds that go with letters, also known as phonics, he writes.

Last school year, 81.3% of Adrian third graders were proficient readers, compared to 39% of third graders statewide.

This year’s third graders are the best prepared she’s ever taught, says Kelsey Zimmerman. On the walls of her classroom are posters showing how to use punctuation marks, reminders on skills such as comparing and contrasting and cause and effect, and “big idea words,” such as “loyal” sovereignty,” democracy,” and “civic.”

Phonics works. Huge budgets for layers of unnecessary administrators pushing untested experiments don’t.