Oregon school districts are making plans to spend millions of dollars in new funding aimed at overhauling the way the state’s youngest learners are taught to read, but some early literacy advocates say they are worried that the money won’t go to the children who need the most help.
The goal of the $90 million early literacy investment — a high-profile education priority for Gov. Tina Kotek — is to dramatically increase the number of Oregon children who are confident, fluent readers by the end of third grade, putting them on a course to graduate from high school and go onto college or the workforce.