Governor Names Phonics Activist to Education Board

Republican Gov. Pete Wilson on Wednesday appointed to the State Board of Education a lifelong Democrat who as a self-styled “outside operator” has led the fight to restore phonics instruction to California schools.

Marion Joseph, 70, made reading her crusade in 1989, seven years after she retired from a top post in the state Department of Education, prompted by a visit to her grandson’s first-grade teacher. She said she wanted to find out why he was have trouble learning to read.

Joseph’s discovery that Isaac’s teacher adhered to the now-discredited “whole language” philosophy eventually led to changes in the state’s laws and policies on how to teach reading. She was a key figure in the development of last year’s $1.2-billion initiative to reduce class size and make sure that textbooks and teacher training programs emphasize the importance of phonics.

On Wednesday, Joseph vowed to continue her campaign in her new role.

“One of my chief aims is to help the board and the state Department of Education get the message [about reading] more clearly to everyone,” Joseph said. “I’ve done a lot of this as an outside operator, but it’s definitely part of the board’s responsibility.”

Joseph said that although she agrees with Wilson on several education issues--including the importance of fundamental reading and math skills and the need for a single, statewide basic skills test--she disagrees with him on others, such as the use of vouchers to help poor children attend private schools.

“There was clearly an understanding in the governor’s office that I was a Democrat . . . and there were issues on which we would have divergent views,” she said. “I am who I am.”

In 1994, state Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin made Joseph a member of a task force on reading instruction that issued a report urging a balance between having good literature in classrooms and formal phonics instruction.

Most recently, she has worked with the Packard Foundation on a $5-million program to help 11 school districts across the state train teachers in how to teach reading. She also has been invited to speak about her efforts in California at several national conferences.

Strong-willed and outspoken, Joseph is expected to strengthen the board and increase its visibility on state education issues. Her intimate knowledge of the workings of the department, gained through 12 years as a top aide to former state Supt. Wilson C. Riles, will add to her clout, administration officials said.

Eastin, who has clashed many times with Joseph over whether the education department was moving quickly enough to revamp reading instruction, issued a one-sentence statement in reaction to her appointment.

“She’s a bright woman and I am sure she will be a very active board member,” Eastin said.

Still, as Democrats, Joseph and Eastin probably will be allies on many issues. For example, both oppose the use of publicly funded vouchers, saying they will help private schools at the expense of public. Wilson supports such vouchers.

“There is no stauncher supporter of public education than Marion Joseph,” said Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni (D-San Rafael), who chairs the Education Committee.

Mazzoni, while serving on a Marin County school board, met Joseph when both supported a controversial local policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. More recently, Joseph has worked with Mazzoni on a bill to specify how teachers are trained to teach reading.

“Their training and methods need to be based on research and on what works and that’s all Marion has ever argued for,” Mazzoni said.

Joseph can serve for a year on the state board before needing to be confirmed by a two-thirds vote of the state Senate.