It was socialist John Dewey and his despicable inner circle who introduced the whole word method, which made it difficult for 40% of the population to learn to read. They openly admitted they were preventing children from learning to read until third grade or later, not first grade.
Of course, their real goal was a dumbed-down population.
The linked American Thinker article in the full post quotes a Stanley Hall who in 1911 said this:
“In 1911, G. Stanley Hall, one of John Dewey’s mentors, went so far as to extol illiteracy: “It is possible, despite the stigma our bepedagogued age puts upon this disability, for those who are under it not only to lead a useful, happy, virtuous life, but to be really well-educated in many other ways.”
Looks like Dewey had a teacher of sorts.