I would like someone to explain to me how the debate over reading (the phonics debate) came to be so emotionalized and politicized that some professionals seem to lose their objectivity when discussing it. I've seen people who normally conduct civil discussions suffer meltdowns over this issue. Why this one? How did it come to be so charged that objectivity seems out of reach? Why have political groups, rather than educational psychologists, so often taken sides on this one?
Chris Breihan
Basic Skills Instructor
Milwaukee