Have you ever tried to teach phonics? Actually, I know you've done it, from what you've written elsewhere (I'm assuming...can't see how you'd avoid it!). But it's worth looking at it with innocent eyes again from time to time.

Take my first sentence, for example.

(Edit: hilariously, while editing this draft, I removed my first sentence in editing despite using it!)

Take my first sentence, for example.

Take my first word. "Hah-vee". Okay, it's not hah-vee. There's a rule for that, you see; when you see an e on the end of a word, it's silent, skips over the consonant on its left, and makes the vowel in front say it's name. So, the word is "hayv". Oops. It's not hayv.

Okay, second word. "ou" generally makes an "ow" sound, so it's "yow". Oops, wait.

Third word! -er generally works like -e at the end (saver, biter, hater, etc.), at least when the word without "r" is a word (save, bite, hate), and eve is a word, so it's "eev-r". Um, whoops.

Fourth word! "ie" is pronounced like "eye", so it's "tr-eye-d". Cool! We got one! Piece of cake! Wait, p-eye-ss? Good grief. Gr"ie"f...AAAH.

Never mind! Fifth word! "o" sounds like "owe", as in "go" and "no". So its "t-owe", that thing on your foot. Oops. Wait, wait, I've got it. It's like like the sound in "pot", so the word's "t-aw". Right? Right??

Sixth word..."ea" sounds like "ee" so it's "t-ee-ch". Haha! We got it! Phonics is a perfect idea! Id"ea"...id-ee...oh (@*%&@#. This is ridiculous. Enough to make you wish you were dead. d-ee-d...*@#%*&

Seventh word! Okay, we got this. We know that ph makes a "f" sound, "o" is normally the sound in "pot", n, "i" is short, "ih", and "c" could be "s" or "k" but with it's usually only "s" when followed by i or e, so it's probably k. f-aw-n-ih-ks. Nailed it! Phonics is THE BEST!

So.

It's kind of a nightmare, given all the irregularities, all the exceptions, and all the complexity of even the basic rules...and the most common words are the worst offenders, leaving a student unable to comprehend any passage of text until after a LOT of phonics. It needs to be taught, but I do have a point after all this...it's hard. And that means it's not going to happen unless people care a lot. Children are amazing learners, and they take up language like a sponge, but it's really tough going with English reading / spelling.

So while I agree with every word you say about how important it is, how much children should not be pushed along from grade to grade with nobody noticing or caring whether they're missing basic reading skills...I think we also need to recognize that even though millions of children learn to read English every year, this is hard, it's a big deal, and we need to invest care and resources appropriately. It's not easy, just extremely important.

We need to care, a lot, and we need to invest (probably also a lot).