On behalf of President Bush, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today told a gathering of key education leaders and state policymakers that the President will seek a $100 million increase in funding for Reading First.

Reading First is President Bush's program to help every young child in every state become a successful reader by the end of grade three. The program, created through the new No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, will help states and local school districts establish high-quality comprehensive reading instruction — based on scientific research — for children in grades K-3.

Paige made the announcement during the concluding session of the U.S. Department of Education's first Reading Leadership Academy in Washington, D.C.

"President Bush and I believe that reading is the foundation of all learning," Paige said. "Children who are never taught to read well may never perform at their full potential. If they are left behind because of poor reading instruction, they may be left behind entirely. President Bush is serious about providing all children with good reading instruction in the early years and this year his budget tripled federal funding for reading programs to $900 million.

"I'm thrilled that his budget proposal for next year will include an 11 percent increase for Reading First — bringing the federal investment in Reading First to $1 billion."

The Reading Leadership Academies are designed to help state leaders gear up for swift and successful implementation of the new reading program. Secretary Paige invited governors and chief state school officers in each state to send a team to Washington for one of three academies. Two additional academies will take place in Washington, D.C., Feb. 13-15 and 20-22, 2002.

Officials from Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming are attending the first of the three academies.

For more information about the strategies and skills involved in scientifically based reading instruction, read Put Reading First, a report by the National Institute for Literacy and the Center for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement, available online at: http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/reading_first1.html.

For more information about Reading First, go to the No Child Left Behind Web page at: http://www.ed.gov/nclb/.

Estimates of state funding under the president's budget request for FY 2003 and for the current year (FY 2002) follow. Additional information is available online at: http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/news.html, click on ESEA Title I, Reading First State Grants.

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