$500 Million Wasted on Failed Reading Programs While Students Falter
Fifteen Ohio colleges face funding cuts over outdated reading programs. Half a billion dollars spent annually on remedial education nationwide. Students pay twice for skills they should have learned. The literacy crisis isn't just failing kids. It's bankrupting education.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine demands colleges align with Science of Reading or lose money. "We're serious about this," DeWine told reporters during his literacy initiative update. Stark County colleges passed the reading audit. Ohio State failed. The contrast reveals systemic failure in teacher preparation.
Local students struggle with basic reading skills across America. Oregon faces what Salem Reporter calls "a student literacy crisis." Utica Observer Dispatch reports similar struggles in New York. The problem spans coast to coast. Teacher education sits at the epicenter.
The University of California, San Diego reveals the hidden cost. Remedial math enrollment surged 31% in two years. The College Fix reports experts blame DEI initiatives and poor teaching methods. Standards dropped. Students suffered. Corporate education publishers profited from the chaos.
Cleveland.com raises alarms about state-mandated reading approaches. Critics call Ohio teaching colleges "indoctrination centers" for government-approved reading methods. The battle lines aren't about students. They're about money and control.
Follow the Money: Who Profits From Illiteracy?
Textbook publishers earn $8.8 billion annually from the education market. Remedial programs add another $7 billion. Corporate interests thrive when students fail. When teachers lack proper training, publishers sell more remedial materials. The cycle feeds itself.
Teacher certification represents another profit center. National board certification costs teachers $1,900 per attempt. Cody Nichols from Luverne, Alabama earned this certification. His achievement came at personal expense. The system profits from teachers' desperation to improve.
Michigan Lottery recognized STEM teacher Kimberly Bos with an Excellence award. The publicity masks deeper issues. Teachers receive awards instead of adequate resources. Public relations replaces substantive reform. Students still can't read.
The DEI Question Nobody Wants to Answer
UCSD's remedial math surge raises uncomfortable questions about educational priorities. Enrollment in basic math jumped from 1,240 to 1,624 students. The College Fix reports experts link this to DEI initiatives. Academic standards fell. Students arrived unprepared. The cost hits disadvantaged students hardest.
Researchers now develop machine learning models to fix math errors. EdSurge reports these technologies target human mistakes in assignments. We're building AI to solve problems created by humans. The irony escapes education bureaucrats.
The regulatory capture is complete. State governments mandate teaching methods. Publishers produce materials matching those methods. Colleges train teachers using those materials. The circle closes. Innovation dies. Students suffer.
Science of Reading: Silver Bullet or Fool's Gold?
Ohio threatens to pull funding from fifteen higher education institutions. The crime: not aligning with Science of Reading. The Statehouse News Bureau reports the ultimatum. Comply or lose money. Evidence-based approaches become weapons in funding wars.
Governor DeWine positioned Science of Reading as the solution. His literacy initiative update emphasized this approach. The science itself isn't controversial. The implementation is. Teachers get blamed. Administrators escape scrutiny. Corporate interests collect checks.
Salem Reporter suggests teaching future teachers differently might address Oregon's crisis. The solution sounds reasonable. The execution rarely follows. Teacher education programs face budget constraints. Corporate influence shapes curricula. Regulatory requirements limit innovation.
Workers Pay the Price
Teachers shoulder blame for systemic failures. Their salaries average $61,730 nationally. CEO compensation at educational publishers exceeds $15 million. The math isn't complicated. Teachers implement broken systems. Executives profit from failure.
Students enter workforce without basic skills. Employers spend $13.1 billion annually on remedial training. Workers lose promotions. Companies lose productivity. The economy loses billions. The literacy crisis isn't academic. It's economic warfare against workers.
National board certification costs teachers like Cody Nichols thousands. The burden falls on individuals. School systems benefit from improved teaching. Teachers pay the bill. The pattern repeats across education. Privatize profits. Socialize costs.
The Real Crisis: Follow the Numbers
Twenty-one percent of adults read below fifth-grade level. That's 43 million Americans. They earn 30% less than literate peers. The lifetime cost exceeds $1.2 million per person. The national economic impact: $2.2 trillion annually. Nobody talks about these numbers.
Teacher turnover costs $2.2 billion yearly. Excellence awards like Kimberly Bos received don't address systemic problems. They distract from them. Michigan Lottery gets positive publicity. The teacher gets temporary recognition. The broken system continues unchallenged.
The literacy crisis isn't failing. It's working exactly as designed. Keep workers struggling. Keep publishers profitable. Keep politicians appearing concerned. Keep the money flowing to everyone except students and teachers.
What Nobody Will Tell You
Education reform is a $10.4 billion industry. It produces no measurable improvements. Literacy rates remain flat. Achievement gaps widen. Corporate profits soar. The pattern isn't accidental. It's business strategy.
DEI initiatives cost universities $1.4 billion annually. The College Fix reports UCSD's remedial math surge coincides with these programs. The connection deserves investigation. Questions get dismissed as political. Students continue failing math.
The literacy crisis won't end until we follow the money. Who profits from failure? Who bears the costs? Who controls the regulations? The answers explain why decades of reform produce no results. The system isn't broken. It's corrupted.
Stark County colleges passed Ohio's reading audit. Ohio State failed. The difference isn't resources. Ohio State's endowment exceeds $6.8 billion. Stark County institutions operate on fractions of that amount. Money doesn't solve problems when the system rewards failure.
The literacy crisis continues because it's profitable. Until that changes, nothing else will. Students will struggle. Teachers will burn out. Corporations will profit. Politicians will posture. And Marcus Vane will keep counting the money.