Literacy and the Gospel (part 2)

I've been reading a lot of the statistics on literacy in the United States. Some of the statistics greatly surprise me, but further my concern for those who are functionally illiterate in the US and Hancock County.

Statistics from Begin to Read

• Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of the 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. The fourth grade is the watershed year.
• 85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate.

Statistics from National Right to Read Foundation

• The number of functionally illiterate adults is increasing by approximately two and one quarter million persons each year. This number includes nearly 1 million young people who drop out of school before graduation, 400,000 legal immigrants, 100,000 refugees, and 800,000 illegal immigrants, and 20 % of all high school graduates.

Statistics from Education Portal

• 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their child
• 20 percent of Americans are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level.

• 3 out of 4 people on welfare can't read.
• Approximately 50 percent of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as balancing a checkbook and reading prescription drug labels.

One statistic that really hit close to home with the number of drug and abuse problems in our county...

• To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests.