Lawmakers Ax Reading Plan
by WILL SENTELL - Advocate (excerpt)

A bid by state educators to lift student achievement off the bottom has turned into a key point of controversy in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget proposal.

The issue under debate is Jindal’s proposal to spend $14 million on a new program for improving reading skills for children from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade.

The state House of Representatives stripped the money from its version of the governor’s $30 billion operating budget. The budget finances state services for the financial year that begins July 1.