Governor stresses early reading start

Jeb Bush takes his reading initiative to a center in Dover that serves Spanish-speaking children and their parents.

[Times photo: John Pendygraft] Gov. Jeb Bush tells 4-year-old Gabriela Cruz that she should become bilingual and study hard. He was visiting the San Jose Mission's Even Start Center in Dover on Monday to talk about his reading initiative. Gabriela's mother, Estela, with 1-year-old Oleymi on her lap, has been studying there for four years to prepare for the GED test.

By MELANIE AVE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 9, 2002

DOVER -- Standing in a shaded playground at the San Jose Mission's Even Start Center in southern Hillsborough County on Monday, Gov. Jeb Bush announced plans to make sure all children are prepared to read by the time they start school.

Bush stressed the importance of early literacy as part of his month-old statewide reading initiative, Just Read, Florida!, as preschool-age children and their parents waited nearby.

Although more details about the early reading component will not be unveiled until next week in Jacksonville, Bush said parents need to read to their children and be involved in the child's education to ensure academic success.

"The fact is, if kids come prepared to learn in kindergarten and in first grade, they'll have a great chance to not ever be held back," Bush said at the center that teaches literacy to the mostly Spanish-speaking children and their parents. Even Start, a federal program, is one of several at the San Jose Mission, which provides services to farm workers and their families.

"If they don't come prepared to learn at the earliest ages . . . then there's a greater propensity for these children to be held back or not be able to gain a year's worth of knowledge in a year's time."

If more children excelled at reading, Bush said, the state would spend less money on remediation and more time training students for higher-paying jobs.

The Florida Partnership for School Readiness will add to its list of recommendations the ability to read and will increase training efforts among its local coalitions, Bush said.

New parents also will receive a revised booklet known as the Sunrise SkillBuilders that outlines guidelines to help them chart the intellectual, physical and social developmental stages of their children.

A Web site under construction will offer parents tips for successful early reading.

"Moms and dads will know if their child is developing at an accelerated rate or if they need some kind of special help," Bush said. "For the first time, it'll include what parents need their kids to know by the first day of school so kids come prepared to learn."

In late February, Bush unveiled his reading program that aims to make sure within 10 years that all Florida children are reading at grade level. Using a mix of federal and state dollars, the plan includes beefed-up teacher training, parental involvement and widespread community involvement.

Hillsborough County superintendent Earl Lennard joined Tampa Tribune publisher Steve Weaver to announce the birth of a county literacy coalition that will recruit tutors and mentors and rally the community to fight illiteracy.

Calling reading the key to academic success, Lennard said boosting literacy requires the help of everyone.

"The school district cannot do this alone," he said. "It requires our community to get behind this effort and say to the world that reading is important."

-- Melanie Ave can be reached at (813) 226-3400 or melanie@sptimes.com.

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