Position Statements

NCTE and its constituent groups have developed position statements on a variety of education issues vital to the teaching and learning of English language arts.

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Position Statements

Resolution on Federal Support for the National Right to Read Effort


Category: Education Policy, Reading
Print Statement

1971 NCTE Annual Business Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada

Background

The National Right to Read Effort is a coordinated endeavor involving all segments of society, public and private, professional and nonprofessional, to ensure that in this decade no American shall be denied a productive life because of an inability to read effectively. A major goal of the Right to Read Effort is to increase functional literacy so that by 1980, 99 percent of our population 16 years old and 90 percent over 16 will read well enough to function effectively.

The support of the federal government and all professional bodies will be needed if the Right to Read Effort is to be successful. However, the federal government has not provided significant financial support for the effort, and many teachers and organizations have little idea of its purpose and scope. Be it therefore

Resolution

Resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English request the President and the Congress to give the necessary support and financial assistance to the Commissioner of Education and to the Director of the Right to Read Effort so that the program will achieve its goals; and

that the members of the Council request the help of the Right to Read Effort in their own communities and work vigorously towards its full implementation.