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By Rahm Emanuel

The ‘Mississippi Marathon’ Is Teaching Kids to Read

By focusing on phonics, the state’s public schools rocketed from 49th place in the nation to ninth.

Hattiesburg, Miss.

Step into F.B. Woodley Elementary School, and you know immediately that you’re entering an institution of educational excellence. This isn’t some well-heeled suburban school serving privileged kids. It isn’t nestled in a high-income gated community. This is an urban school in a majority-black city, set in the postindustrial Deep South.

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