S. 905: Read to Succeed

S. 905

The dangers inherent in this bill cannot be overstated.

One, it misses the mark on the main objective of reading today, which is not just to teach the skill of word recognition, but to indoctrinate through the careful selection of reading content and materials. If anything should be addressed by the legislators, most of whom are quite ignorant of educational specifics, it should be the content and procurement of reading resources, including texts, computer programs, and other instructional materials. For many decades, the content of reading books has been subverted to promote the Left's agenda and create the foundational thinking for a new world order, since what we read impacts our thoughts. The Right has been distracted and diverted by the "problem" of teaching reading and has a very limited view of the scope of reading's impact on people's character development, store of knowledge, brain development, and critical, independent thinking capacity.

Two, the legislature has exceeded its reach by proposing dramatic legislative control over education, down to the details of how teachers are to teach. This has long been the domain of educators who, while they have done more harm than good, theoretically know far more about teaching technique and child development than most legislators. While what most educators "know" is different from earlier and wiser days, what they have been taught and how they use the educational system create great dangers to our children. Legislators clearly don't know enough to avoid loopholes and pitfalls that will be well and easily exploited by the Left.

Legislation like this will NOT solve the real problems. If we cannot control the garbage to which children are exposed and with which they are being indoctrinated, it makes absolutely no difference how we try to teach them to decode words. Teaching methods can have their own purposes, and the Left has used bad teaching methods to effectively cause a multitude of problems. These problems are where the defense must be raised, not by this terrible bill. Reading is being used to culturally, intellectually, psychologically, emotionally, historically, and in every way you can imagine, instill the Marxist, anti-American, DEI, sexual and other transformations into our society and destroy our great nation.

Concerns

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 59-155-110, RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMPREHENSIVE, SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO READING BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, SO AS TO ENSURE ALIGNMENT WITH SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED READING INSTRUCTION

Legislators are now experts on how to teach reading?  Are there any limits to what they will dictate for the people?) (Comprehensive, systematic, and scientifically based are simply buzzwords that the Left WILL exploit.  The first two will force a top-down insistence on the same input to everyone, except those who don’t “get it,” leading to their failure and remediation.  This is designed to foster equal outcomes—read “equity.”  Has no one seen what the Left can do with the word “science” after the Covid fiasco?  Poor choice of words, and wrong to boot!

AND FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY SKILLS; BY AMENDING SECTION 59-155-120, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO INCLUDE NEW DEFINITIONS AND AMEND CURRENT DEFINITIONS; BY AMENDING SECTION 59-155-130, RELATING TO THE DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT

More power to the Department of Education, which already has too much power and has caused inestimable damage to children.

SO AS TO ENSURE IMPLEMENTATION OF READ TO SUCCEED (such a nice catch phrase) IS BASED IN THE SCIENCE

Depending on who is defining “science”.

OF READING, STRUCTURED LITERACY, AND FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY SKILLS; BY AMENDING SECTION 59-155-140, RELATING TO READING PROFICIENCY PLANS 

Oops!  Sounds like equitable outcomes.

SO AS TO AMEND REQUIREMENTS FOR READING PLANS; BY AMENDING SECTION 59-155-150, RELATING TO READINESS ASSESSMENT

For those not ready, may they wait, play, and let their brains develop—or do we force-feed them brain challenges at which they are doomed to fail?  The implications of their failure and the reality of hundreds of studies of the true value of waiting for each child to reach “readiness” at their own rate, will never be considered by this law.

SO AS TO REQUIRE THE ADMINISTRATION OF A BOARD APPROVED READINESS ASSESSMENT TO 4K AND 5K

What “Board” and who designs it and mans it? Unless the assessment considers individual differences and each child’s innate aptitudes and neurological status as they are still mentally maturing, this is developmentally completely age-inappropriate if used to shove “reading” instruction down children’s throats, ready or not.

WITHIN THE FIRST THIRTY DAYS OF THE SCHOOL YEAR; BY ADDING SECTION 59-150-155 SO AS TO PROVIDE REQUIREMENTS FOR UNIVERSAL READING SCREENERS

Again, this does not allow for individual differences.

BY AMENDING SECTION 59-155-160, RELATING TO RETENTION FOR THIRD GRADE STUDENTS AND SUMMER READING CAMP REQUIREMENTS

Punishment for youngsters who are deprived of healthy play, organic learning, free exploration of the world, along with humiliation and failure.

SO AS TO CLARIFY GOOD CAUSE EXEMPTIONS AND ENSURE DISTRICTS INCLUDE GRADES K-2 IN SUMMER READING CAMPS 

To prepare them to be the best they can be or to be trained as early as possible to follow that which is prescribed by the State?

BY AMENDING SECTION 59-155-170, RELATING TO COMPETENCIES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

What does this mean? Shall teachers be trained in how to stunt individual development, reinforce failure, find new ways to create extra work and self-importance for themselves, become the messianic saviors of the so-called “learning disabled” created by forced early cognitive demands that are not developmentally appropriate?

SO AS TO REQUIRE THEY BE BASED IN FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY SKILLS

These are not "Foundational Literacy Skills" but basic word decoding skills. Literacy requires discernment, understanding, and intellectual skills far beyond the mechanical recognizing or uttering words in response to the squiggles on a page.

BY AMENDING SECTION 59-155-180, RELATING TO PRE-SERVICE AND IN-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS, SO AS TO AMEND ENDORSEMENT REQUIREMENTS; BY AMENDING SECTION 59-155-200, RELATING TO PROMOTION OF READING HABITS AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, SO AS TO REMOVE SPECIFIC DISTRICT REQUIREMENTS; BY AMENDING SECTION 59-155-210, RELATING TO STANDARDS, PRACTICES, AND PROCEDURES, SO AS TO ENSURE THE DEPARTMENT PROVIDES GUIDANCE TO DISTRICTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS CHAPTER; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 59-18-310, RELATING TO DEVELOPMENT OR ADOPTION OF THE STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM, SO AS TO REQUIRE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

This relatively new type of “assessment” is used to focus on perceived weaknesses (mostly either lack of consideration of differences in learning styles and abilities) or lack of “readiness,” with a goal of UNIVERSAL and EQUAL outcomes—not just in reading word skills, but, along the way, the acceptance of the indoctrination implicit in the materials being used—which no one seems to care about.

1/31/24: Senate Education Subcommittee will meet Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. to discuss S. 905.

Call to Action

Please take this opportunity to reach out to the committee members and share your thoughts and concerns regarding this bill. Additionally, for your convenience, here is a link to the meeting agenda.

Disclaimer: This analysis is provided from an EDUCATIONAL EXPERT, conservative constitutional perspective and has not been influenced by lawyers, special interest groups, or lobbyists. Our aim is to offer an objective and grounded understanding of the proposed bill's potential impact and legal implications. We strongly encourage you, as a constituent who may be directly affected by the unintended consequences of this legislation, to thoroughly review the bill. We advise formulating your own concerns based on your reading and understanding of the bill. Your voice is important in this legislative process. We urge you to communicate any concerns or questions you have to your local legislator.

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