President George W. Bush made improving reading instruction a priority. He got Congress to provide money to schools that used reading programs supported by scientific research. But backers of Marie Clay’s ideas saw Bush’s Reading First initiative as a threat. 

Read: Transcript of this episode 
Watch: The story behind Sold a Story
Support: Donate to APM Reports 
More: soldastory.org 
En español: soldastory.es 

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.