$40,000 to Help Hook Students on Phonics

Fullerton School District trustees have decided to spend as much as $40,000 for a plan that will emphasize phonics in the curriculum.

After it was unanimously approved Tuesday, Trustee Anthony M. Valla called the plan marvelous.

“This plan is an update and a revision and a desire to add new monies to the concept of phonics, and to encourage teachers who have gotten tired of teaching phonics to get back on the bandwagon and teach it in a different way with special training and funding for new materials,” he said. “It’s kind of like getting a shot in the arm.”

The plan calls for teacher training in new techniques for using phonics to teach reading and writing. It also provides teachers with materials and guides to help them use the techniques as early as September.

District officials said the plan has been discussed for years but lacked funding. About a year ago, a group of parents formed Parents Advocating Basic Skills to press the district to adopt a phonics-centered curriculum.

Although many teachers use phonics to teach basic skills, their methods are not uniform. The new plan will encourage all teachers to implement more traditional methods, including concepts of fundamental schooling. For example, teachers will be encouraged to teach grammar through memorization and repetition rather than through more creative techniques like literature-based methods, Valla said.

“Some students do not learn many of the basic concepts by reading good literature,” he said, adding that the plan addresses that problem.