Exhibit 99.1

Investor call - Martin E. Kenney's prepared statement


Good morning, everyone. I have a few prepared statements that I think will be
helpful as we review the financial results for the second quarter. Also in
attendance with me today are Bob Lynch, WRC's COO and Rick Nota, WRC's VP,
Finance.

Before getting into the specifics of our financial results, I would like to
spend a moment commenting on the current competitive and economic environment.

Market Environment

The persistently sluggish U.S. economy has affected nearly every market and
segment of the education industry. K-12 schools across the country have been
plagued by state and local budget shortfalls, which have in turn influenced the
bottom lines of supplemental education providers that serve education
institutions. As a result of the decline of state and local budgets, a number of
markets and segments within K-12 have experienced negative growth. Though most
large school districts appear finally ready to comply with-- and benefit from--
federal dollars under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), many still
remain confused by the law and provisions requiring purchased solutions to have
scientific research supporting claims of efficacy. As a result, we believe WRC
will ultimately benefit from NCLB -- as WRC has persuasive support for its
research claims and has the grant writing staff capable of working with school
and district officials to procure this funding. Assessment and accountability
remain paramount themes-- as do solutions that promote improved decision-making
by administrators. WRC continues to believe that the winning solutions will link
assessment and remediation as part of an integrated solution. Professional
development is also clearly a priority for schools. With elementary education
representing a significantly higher percentage of the market, coupled with the
fact that elementary schooling tends to be eligible for more funding, the
overall fundamentals of the industry are strong and bodes well for WRC Media.



Second Quarter Financial Review

WRC Media's operating income was down 9.0% for the second quarter ended June 30,
2003 versus prior year resulting primarily from $1.0 million of restructuring
costs. Our profitability measured in terms of Adjusted EBITDA was $9.5 million
or 17.3% greater than the same period last year on revenue of $43.5 million,
which was approximately $300 thousand or 0.7% lower than the same period in
2002. The higher Adjusted EBITDA was primarily attributable to the lower
operating expenses excluding restructuring costs. Net revenue for the second
quarter of 2003 was slightly lower by 0.7% compared to the same period in 2002
primarily driven by lower revenue at WRC's library businesses--primarily at
World Almanac Library Services division resulting from library funding cutbacks.
These revenue declines were partially offset by higher revenue at the Company's
educational technology businesses which posted revenue growth of 7.4% for the
three months ended June 30, 2003 compared to the same period in 2002.

We continue to meet our bottom line targets by managing costs, as the difficult
K-12 funding environment continued to pressure our top line. We showed
significant operating expense improvement versus the second quarter of 2002.
Operating expenses (excluding non-cash restructuring costs) declined during the
current quarter primarily due to lower sales and marketing expenses which
decreased $1.5 million or 12.9%. Offsetting these declines in operating expenses
was an increase of $1.0 million in non-cash restructuring costs attributable to
updating the assumptions used in determining the fair value of the remaining
lease obligations associated with facilities vacated in 2002.

At Weekly Reader, revenue increased $700 thousand, or 14.6%, to $5.3 million
from $4.6 million for the same period in 2002. This was primarily attributable
to higher custom publishing shipments by Weekly Reader's subsidiary Lifetime
Learning Systems and greater licensing revenue. Lifetime Learning revenue was
$500 thousand or approximately 104% greater than in the second quarter in 2002
and licensing revenue was up $264 thousand or 28% quarter-over-quarter for the
period ending June 30, 2003 driven by higher sales through its QVC channel.



At World Almanac Education Group, second quarter revenue decreased by $1.3
million, or 10.6%, to $10.5 million from $11.8 million for the same period in
2002. This decrease was primarily due to lower revenue at WAE Library Services
primarily due to the continuing weak environment for school library funding
partially offset by higher revenue at Gareth Stevens.

At AGS, second quarter revenue decreased $700 thousand, or 5.1%, to $13.5
million from $14.2 million for the same period in 2002, primarily due a $900
thousand decrease in backlist curriculum products, partially offset by growth in
core curriculum and assessment products of $200 thousand.

CompassLearning and ChildU which together comprise the Company's educational
technology business grew revenue by 7.4% quarter-over-quarter for the period
ended June 30, 2003.

At CompassLearning (standalone), revenue decreased approximately $400 thousand,
or 3.7%, to $12.3 million from $12.7 million for the same period in 2002. This
decrease was primarily due to a decrease in service revenue from technical
support of $200 thousand, or 6.0%, to $3.1 million in 2003 from $3.3 million in
2002, and a decrease in professional development revenue of $200 thousand, or
8.7%, to $2.1 million in 2003 from $2.3 million in 2002. Software revenue from
sales of the CompassLearning LAN/WAN product line were flat at $6.8 million.

At ChildU, WRC's unrestricted subsidiary, revenue increased $1.4 million or
approximately 304% to $1.9 million from $500 thousand for the same period in
2002 driven by sales of its web-enabled curriculum products from greater market
acceptance as more and more schools are becoming Internet capable. ChildU
achieved an important milestone for the period ended June 30, 2003, by becoming
EBITDA positive ($0.8 million) on a trailing twelve month basis.

For the three-months ended June 30, 2003, operating income decreased $300
thousand, or 9.0%, to $3.3 million from $3.6 million in 2002. As I previously
mentioned, this decrease was primarily due to $1.0 million of restructuring
costs attributable to updating the assumptions used in determining the fair
value of the remaining lease obligations associated with facilities vacated in
2002.



Net loss decreased by $600 thousand, or 11.3% for the three months ended June
30, 2003, to $4.7 million in 2003 from $5.3 million in 2002 primarily due to
lower other expenses, net -- of $600 thousand driven primarily by lower
management fees of $300 thousand.

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First Half Financial Overview

Net revenue for the six-months ended June 30, 2003 decreased slightly by
approximately $100 thousand, or 0.1%, to $90.5 million from $90.6 million for
the same period in 2002.

WRC Media Adjusted EBITDA for the six-months ending June 30, 2003 of $18.8
million exceeded the same period in the prior year by $3.1 million or 20.0%. The
higher profitability compared to prior year is driven by significantly higher
revenue at ChildU, WRC's unrestricted subsidiary. ChildU revenue increased $2.2
million or 298.6% to $2.9 million from $0.7 million for the same period in 2002
resulting from higher sales of its web-enabled curriculum products

Operating income increased $800 thousand, or 12.6%, to $6.8 million for the
six-months ended June 30, 2003, from operating income of $6.0 million for the
same period in 2002. This improvement in income from operations was primarily
driven by $600 thousand in higher gross profits resulting from higher margin on
sales and by $200 thousand in lower operating costs.

Net loss decreased by $83.0 million, or 90.1% for the six months ended June 30,
2003, to $9.1 million from $92.1 million in 2002 primarily due to the $80.7
million in non-cash charges recorded in the prior period resulting in the
Company's adoption of SFAS No. 142. Excluding the non-cash charge, net loss
decreased $2.3 million or 20.2% primarily due to higher gross profit of $600
thousand on flat revenue, lower operating expense of $200 thousand, lower
interest payments of $500 thousand and lower loss on investments of $1.1 million
(related to WRC's investment in ThinkBox).



As of June 30, 2003, WRC Media's cash balance was $12.5 million and consolidated
debt was $294.2 million. During the six months ended June 30, 2003, WRC Media
made scheduled principal payments of $3.9 million on its senior credit
facilities and as of June 30, 2003, there were $24.0 million in outstanding
advances under the Company's revolving credit facility. Capital expenditures
(including prepublication costs) for the six months ended June 30, 2003 were
$5.2 million.

Outlook

At WRC Media, we strive for above market growth in both core revenues and EBITDA
but we believe that the education funding market will most likely not
significantly improve in 2003. We believe that education funding will improve on
the federal side in the latter part of the second half as more and more schools
understand and comply with the NCLB but it will not be sufficient to offset cuts
in state and local education funding-- for the remainder of 2003. Accordingly,
we expect that the current market conditions to persist into the third and
possibly fourth quarter, negatively affecting our top-line performance. In the
near term, WRC Media has initiated the following strategies to obtain access to
funding: (i) working with schools, libraries, districts and states to help them
identify funds for our programs, (ii) writing grants for schools and libraries
to obtain funding from state and federal sources, and (iii) working with schools
and libraries to include WRC products, providing solution-based product suites
aimed at improving test scores.

In the medium term, we believe the Company is well positioned to benefit during
this time of change based on the following competitive advantages: (i) excellent
scientific research behind the Company's products, which has proven to be
extremely important with the passing of the NCLB Act, (ii) among the most
comprehensive and effective sales channels in the industry, and (iii) a product
suite that meets the key requirements of the federal funding guidelines for
2003.

In summary, our outlook indicates the operating environment will continue to be
challenging going into the second-half of 2003.



This concludes our prepared remarks. We'll now open this up for questions, and
provide any additional information you may need.