This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, May 13, 2008.

I'm Caleb Brown. Reading First, the Federal Reading Program at the heart of No Child

Left Behind has shown little progress, but it still can

find support among conservatives, while dependably earning the ire of liberals.

But why should a program touted as one rooted in science in gender such divisions?

Neil McCluskey, Associate Director of Cato's Center for Educational Freedom,

an author of the book Feds in the classroom explains.

Reading first is, I mean it's basically a program that was started as part of No Child

Left Behind that gives money to school districts to teach a very

specific program of reading that is based on phonics.

So phonics basically, meaning you learn what different word

groups sound and then you learn to put them together and it basically has a

progression of five things that it has to teach starting with phonics all the way

through comprehension.

And the idea behind this is that the federal government was going to incentivize all

districts that at least they had money to give to

to teach reading through what they called the scientifically based

that's key is that term scientifically based

program based on phonics.

Reading first had strong Republican support.

Is it because they looked at the evidence and the scientific evidence and said, this works this works therefore let's put it out there?

Well it's interesting because people think well reading is something that should be nonpartisan

...