Goodbye, Reading Rainbow

Some sad news this morning from NPR: Reading Rainbow, the 26-year veteran of children’s television programming, airs its final episode today. The show has won more than two-dozen Emmys, and is the third longest-running children’s show in PBS history, after Sesame Street and Mister Rogers.

The show is ending because no one will put up the several hundred thousand dollars needed to renew the show’s broadcast rights, says NPR. They also report the opinion of John Grant, head of content at WNED Buffalo, Reading Rainbow’s home station:

Grant says the funding crunch is partially to blame, but the decision to end Reading Rainbow can also be traced to a shift in the philosophy of educational television programming. The change started with the Department of Education under the Bush administration, he explains, which wanted to see a much heavier focus on the basic tools of reading — like phonics and spelling.

Grant says that PBS, CPB and the Department of Education put significant funding toward programming that would teach kids how to read — but that’s not what Reading Rainbow was trying to do.

“Reading Rainbow taught kids why to read,” Grant says. “You know, the love of reading — [the show] encouraged kids to pick up a book and to read.”

Yes, the basic tools are important, but they have to follow the love. (I’ll spare you my usual rant about the many failings of No Child Left Behind.)

While no television show can replace a parent or other loved one sitting down in person to read a book with a child, shows like Reading Rainbow are an often useful complement, and a darn sight better than most of what passes for children’s television these days.

There have also been several studies showing that in our society, reading is apparently seen as much more of a “female” activity. It is useful, therefore, for boys to have role models of men who read. Reading Rainbow’s host, LeVar Burton, was a great example of that. And no, this has nothing to do with whether a boy has a father. One can still have a dad who doesn’t read, or be the son of lesbian moms with an involved uncle who does. The more models the better, though, I say, and Burton’s presence will be missed.

The only good news is that new generations of children will at least be able to enjoy the 26 years of Reading Rainbow on DVD for years to come.

(Addendum: The New York Times today published an op-ed by Tom Loveless, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the task force on K-12 education at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. Loveless questions a study that concluded No Child Left Behind is helping higher-achieving children learn more. He says it’s not—and to the extent that I can tell without plowing through the data myself, he’s right. Thanks to Kim for the tip.)