The beginning of the end for Reading First?

Good News!! (See below) It's the system we have, so until we get a new one...we need to celebrate any progress we can towards a better education system within this system!
Also, I'm getting the opportunity to help some parents start a group called "Hands On, Hands Off" for appropriate assessment for students with disabilities. More on that as it develops...
Lastly, we need to have this blog linked with other blogs and websites...any ideas??

From Education Week at edweek.org
House Panel Would Kill ‘Reading First’ Funding
By Alyson Klein
Washington
The controversial federal Reading First program would be eliminated under a fiscal 2009 spending measure approved
unanimously today by a House Appropriations subcommittee.
In explaining the
decision to zero out the program, Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wis., the chairman of
the House Appropriations Committee, cited the results of a preliminary federal evaluation of
Reading First, released May 1, which found that the program has had no impact on
students’ reading comprehension.
Reading First “has been plagued with
mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and cronyism, as documented by the
inspector general,” Rep. Obey said, referring to a series of reports by the U.S.
Department of Education’s watchdog that suggested conflicts of interest had
occurred among officials and contractors who helped implement the program...