High-level administrators (and the consultants they hire) frequently feel the need to do something dramatic in order to justify their positions, and to add something to their resumes.
Here's an example of that from my school district. For years we offered a general science course in the high school. This was an overview course, with minimal math. It was a good offering, and meant for those students with low math skills.
Then about 5 years ago, consultants came in. They said that our students needed to be challenged more. The general science course was eliminated. Every high school student (even the special ed kids) was shoved into chemistry and then physics.
It was a disaster. So now we have a new set of consultants. Their recommendation? We need a general science course for the low math skills kids!
Same thing happened with Phonics and whole language. Phonics has been a success in helping children to read and write and spell. But the experts said we have to justify our lives/jobs lets introduce something else. Whole language, we will teach children to memorize each and every word in the english language how to spell it and pronounce it. No need to learn the letter sounds and their few exceptions, no we will learn every word and memorize it.