Heroic principal and disadvantaged fall victim to ed cultists.

Here is an article with a lot of details about the scandalous demotion of a principal for using effective reading methods.

Hat tip to Prof. Plum and Andrew Wolf.

[Excerpt]
Published: January 16, 2005
Local News: Rockford Approach to reading argued The district’s instructional chief says direct instruction falls short in the long run.
By CARRIE WATTERS, Rockford Register Star
ROCKFORD — Lewis Lemon Principal Tiffany Parker was relieved of instructional duties last week for not implementing an approach to reading that new administrators ushered in this school year.
Parker’s removal was the flash point in a brewing battle over how children are taught to read, one of the most critical skills and also one of the most emotional parts of teaching.
Parents gathered at the school on Thursday to strategize how to protect a reading program they say works. “If the mountain needs to be moved, move it. But if it’s working, keep it,” said parent Tamara Watkins.
Lewis Lemon’s third-grade students did move a mountain of statistics that show a national scourge: minority and poor students persistently performing below their classmates. The west-side students, 80 percent black and nearly as many poor, came in second in the district behind King gifted students on the state reading test in 2003.