READING IS A CIVIL RIGHT
Excellent investigative series on Oregon education and literacy
Leaving It Up to the Locals Impedes Oregon’s Much-Needed Reading Recovery, Oregon Journalism Project, February 1, 2026
Excerpts:
Angela Uherbelau, founder of Oregon Kids Read, a reading advocacy group, says the Oregon Department of Education and elected officials defer to local control as an excuse for not using their authority to direct funding to schools with a continued history of low reading scores.
“It’s not local control,” she says, “it’s local abandonment.”
_
A case in point: Ronda Fritz, a former elementary teacher and currently an associate professor at the College of Education at Eastern Oregon University, was on a tutoring assignment at a La Grande elementary school a year or two ago when she spotted the latest reading textbooks, selected from an ODE-approved list, stacked unused on a closet shelf.
It wasn’t a surprise. “I’ve been in schools where I’ve seen teachers have those curriculums still in the shrink-wrap,” she says.
_
Oregon Kids Read argued that millions should go first to the 42 “most neglected” schools—both rural and urban—that have stayed at the bottom in reading for more than six consecutive years.
But ODE and lawmakers decided otherwise. J. Schuberth of Oregon Kids Read worked on the legislation and said ODE officials didn’t want to upset local districts by targeting the money. “They said it would be shaming the schools,” Schuberth says.
The Democratically controlled Oregon Legislature has not exactly charged to the rescue of children who haven’t been taught to read.
Oregon colleges and universities’ refusal to change their discredited preparation programs harms teacher candidates - and Oregon students who struggle to read
“Change is hard, but unless the state takes the adoption of these standards more seriously, more children will be left to struggle with reading,” said J. Schuberth, who works with the volunteer group Oregon Kids Read.
“Other states have far surpassed Oregon in part because they demand their programs do better. It’s not optional,” said Angela Uherbelau, who founded Oregon Kids Read.. “Optional serves adult comfort, but it’s failing students in every corner of this state who struggle day after day, needlessly.”
Read full article here:
Oregon has a student literacy crisis. Is teaching future teachers the way out?, The Oregonian/OregonLive, Dec. 6, 2025
Science of Reading in the (Oregon) News continues...
Oregon Kids Read and fellow education advocates continue to call for investing Oregon’s finite dollars where they have the most impact on student outcomes. States that have successfully moved the dial on education choose to prioritize their funding and require evidence-based methods. Oregon should do the same. Our students’ ability to read depends on the details.
The governor wants more accountability for schools. Some education advocates quibble with the details.
More funding for K-12 education is important, but alone insufficient
What Oregon can learn from other states about teaching reading
Oregon’s Department of Education released a new accountability framework. Advocates say it lacks teeth.
Science of Reading in the (Oregon) News
Oregon Kids Read is deeply grateful for the excellent, ongoing reporting on student literacy in our state. We’re honored to have been interviewed for several stories and to have participated in co-authoring a number of opinion pieces - and want to share them with you. In all of our advocacy, we seek to center students who struggle with reading, especially those students experiencing poverty whose communities are historically and currently underserved.
Panel recommends sweeping changes in how Oregon colleges of education prepare teachers to instruct reading
Opinion: Making sure Oregon’s literacy investments pay off for kids who need it most
Oregon teachers want to learn the right way to teach reading. They need funding to do it.
Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong
Why isn’t the science of reading currently being used in countless districts across the United States and in Oregon? In her fascinating Sold a Story podcast, investigative journalist Emily Hanford takes a deep dive into why so our educational system actually makes it harder for students to learn to read - and harder for their teachers to teach them. Click image below to download the podcast.
Status quo detractors are already trying to discredit Hanford’s groundbreaking journalism. Please add your name to this letter of support of Hanford’s efforts to pull back the veil on why our struggling readers and their teachers aren’t getting what they need and deserve. Click image below to sign petition.
Decoding Oregon's Literacy Crisis - Why Reading Matters & What Solutions Work
Interested in learning more about the Science of Reading & how it can help solve our state’s literacy crisis? Our partners at Our Children Oregon (OCO) and Decoding Dyslexia Oregon put together a great issue brief that does just that! Please take a look - and feel free to share…
See how Science of Reading works in the classroom!
We believe educators in our most struggling K-5 schools deserve access to the same transformational tools for their own students as teacher colleagues at better resourced schools.
Watch this short video to see how training transforms student experience in the classroom.
How Oregon Kids Read & Portland Public Schools are changing struggling readers' lives
A year ago, we launched the Oregon Kids Read petition which has not just helped raise awareness, but has forged new relationships and led to concrete action for kids.
As Oregon Kids Read continues to advocate for crucial reading instruction training for K-3 teachers statewide, Portland Public Schools (PPS) isn't waiting on the Oregon legislature to act. PPS has welcomed conversation and partnership with Oregon Kids Read, Decoding Dyslexia Oregon and other literacy advocates, which we deeply appreciate.
Like us, PPS is absolutely unwilling to accept that half of Oregon’s 3rd graders aren't reading at grade level and that for our Black, Indigenous and other 3rd graders of color, that number rises to over 70% across the state.
Portland Public Schools has committed to reversing that trajectory for its students. Thanks to the leadership of Senior Director of Humanities Dr. Tania McKey, Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero and the PPS School Board, the district started training teachers and staff this past summer in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS). As you can see in the attached video, PPS' goal is to train all of its K-5 teachers by Spring 2023. This means that PPS educators will receive the in-depth professional development they deserve and that struggling students will receive the expert instruction they need - no matter which elementary school they attend in the city.
How can you continue to support struggling readers?
Please share the Oregon Kids Read petitiontoday with friends and family and encourage them to sign it. All K-3 educators around the state should have access to LETRS training and all struggling readers should have access to expert instruction.
Another way you can help is by donating to the Fund for PPS effort to connect our most struggling readers to expert one-on-one virtual tutoring. Gifts of any size will be met dollar for dollar for a matching donation of up to $15,000! Giving isn't limited to individual donors - please encourage your PTA’s and other local groups to give too. Irvington School’s PTA in Portland helped launch the tutoring effort with their dollars and we’re grateful to them.
In many ways, distance learning has worsened the academic challenges already faced by our Black, Indigenous and other students of color before COVID. Your signing the Oregon Kids Read petition has enabled us to help PPS harness the unexpected positives of this tech-dependent moment: training scores of educators online and offering one-on-one virtual tutoring to our kids who need it the most.
We’re very grateful to all the PPS educators going through LETRS training to help our kids become strong readers. Most of all, we want to thank every Oregon student working on their reading. Reading is difficult for many of us - including adults - and your dedication makes us very proud.
Angela
Video introduction to Oregon Kids Read petition
Interested in a quick video about the Oregon Kids Read petition - why we started it, what’s at stake for our students and how your signature can make a difference?
Thanks for watching,
Angela
P.S. We’re almost at 5,000 signatures!
Petition Tops 2,000!
Just as every Oregon student is so much more than a statistic, every signature on the Oregon Kids Read petition represents a personal story.
Please take a minute to sign if you haven’t already and leave a comment. Sharing our experiences is one of the most effective ways to move others to action:
Our daughter struggled with literacy and was well below her benchmark. Without outside tutoring on phonics, I’m not sure she would have caught up in time. We strongly believe every child should have access to this proven method of learning to read.
I care about equity in learning and I am not afraid to try something different if what we are currently doing isn’t reaching all learners.
I’m signing because as a former Reading Specialist in a Title 1 public school here in Oregon, I sat everyday elbow to elbow with students who desperately wanted to read and I did not have the right tools, resources or training to reach each of them and that, for me, was incredibly heartbreaking as well as extremely frustrating. As educators (and that most definitely includes folks at district, state and university levels) we must avail ourselves of the current neuroscience research into how the brain reads and incorporate that knowledge as a critical building block in developing our teaching practices around reading. So many students are counting on us to do better.
Thanks for reading!
Angela