You can tell Zach Wamp doesn't really want to be a party pooper on the subject.
But it has become clear in Wamp's campaign appearances recently that he's heard a little too much about Tennessee's victory in the Race to the Top competition, simply because everyone is missing what Wamp believes is a fundamental priority.
"You can talk about Race to the Top and the Tennessee Diploma Project, but let me tell you, unless we improve early childhood reading, that's not going to work," Wamp, a Republican candidate for governor, said. "You can raise standards for 8th grade teachers, but if 40 percent of their students are reading at 4th grade levels or lower, they're not going to meet those standards."
The issue strikes at the core of one of Wamp's major campaign themes. He has been relentless in emphasizing the need to know if children read well enough by the time they get to the third grade. If not, he warns, that student might lose out.
Wamp does not criticize Race to the Top or the Tennessee Diploma Project. He is making the point that without attention to early childhood reading, those big-concept programs don't stand as much chance of success as they might otherwise.
Tennessee has been in a self-congratulatory mood over the stunning award of $500 million in federal Race to the Top funds. The funding for education came after intense, hard work and a special legislative session on education reform. The Tennessee Diploma Project is a program to raise standards for students. Gov. Phil Bredesen has been a driving force in the reforms, although a large amount of credit is going to former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, whose State Collaborative on Reforming Education has played a key role.
Every major candidate for governor has emphasized the need to improve education but none has been so adamant about early childhood reading as Wamp. His point is that children should be benchmarked as early as kindergarten and that those who are not proficient should be caught up by the third grade. He says having proficiency at third grade is an indicator of how well the student will do later.
Frist's SCORE program is still going strong. The process begins in July to implement Race to the Top strategies, the start of a four-year process. Bredesen has said after the current budget process is completed he will devote much of his time to the education initiative.
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