The Globe and Mail's editorial today:

Throw out the demonstrably false assumption that all students in Grade 7 can read and write well enough to succeed in school. Assess students one by one; identify those who are grade levels behind their peers; and give them the support they need to catch up. If it means putting some subjects on hold until they do so, so be it.

Literacy is "the golden ticket" to success in school and modern economy.

If you don't have the ticket by now, we will move Heaven and Earth and timetables to help you get one. [emphasis theirs]

I'm in agreement on this: reading and writing trump other skills, even, dare I say, arithmetic. In my experience, those with good reading comprehension and the ability to write clearly are the brightest people, and can often get up to speed on other subjects without much trouble — including math.

What I would hate to see, however, is rabid devotion to teaching literacy at the expense of everything else.