FWD: "Illiterate America"

Subject: FWD: "Illiterate America"
From: "Mark W. McBride, president, SPCS, Inc." <spcsinc -at- INTERSURF -dot- COM>
Date: Sun, 3 Dec 1995 05:26:39 GMT

FWDRS NOTE: Thought this would be of interest to some. Best, Mac
==================================
Did you hear the news? On 2 Dec 1995 07:54:40 -0500, our ether buddy
lindap1040 -at- aol -dot- com (LindaP1040) in newsgroup misc.education spaketh
thusly:

:)"Illiterate America", written by Jonathan Kozol, Plume,1986

:)In this book, Mr. Kozol shares these numbers:

:)" Twenty-five million American adults cannot read the poison warnings on a
:)can of pesticide, a letter from their child's teacher, or the front page
:)of a daily paper. An additional 35 million read only at a level which is
:)less than equal to the full survival needs of our society.
:) Together, these 60 million people represent more than one third of the
:)entire adult population.
:) The largest numbers of illiterate adults are white, native-born
:)Americans. In proportion to population, however, the figures are higher
:)for blacks and Hispanics than for whites. Sixteen percent of white
:)adults, 44 percent of blacks, and 56 percent of Hispanic citizens are
:)functional or marginal illiterates. Figures for the younger generation of
:)black adults are increasing. Forty-seven percent of all black
:)seventeen-year-olds are functionally illiterate. That figure is expected
:)to climb to 50 percent by 1990.
:) Fifteen percent of recent graduates of urban high schools read at less
:)than sixth grade level. One million teenage children between twelve and
:)seventeen cannot read above the third grade level. Eighty-five percent of
:)juveniles who come before the courts are functionally illiterate. Half
:)the heads of households classified below the poverty line by federal
:)standards cannot read an eighth grade book. Over one third of mothers who
:)receive support from welfare are functionally illiterate. Of 8 million
:)unemployed adults, 4 to 6 million lack the skills to be retrained for
:)hi-tech jobs.
:) The United States ranks forty-ninth among 158 member nations of the
:)U.N. in its literacy levels.
:) In Prince George's County, Maryland, 30,000 adults cannot read above a
:)fourth-grade level. The largest literacy program in this country reaches
:)100 people yearly.
:) In Boston, Massachusetts, 40 percent of the adult population is
:)illiterate.
:)The largest organization that provides funds to the literacy programs of
:)the city reaches 700 to 1,000 people.
:) In San Antonio, Texas, 152,000 adults have been documented as
:)illiterate. In a single municipal district of San Antonio, over half the
:)adult population is illiterate in English. Sixty percent of the same
:)population sample is illiterate in Spanish. Three percent of adults in
:)this district are at present being served.
:) In the State of Utah, which ranks number one in the United States in
:)the percent of total budget allocated to the education sector, 200,000
:)adults lack the basic skills for employment. Less than 5 percent of
:)Utah's population is black or Hispanic.
:) Together, all federal, state, municipal, and private literacy programs
:)in the nation reach a maximum of 4 percent of the illiterate population.
:)The federal govenment spends $100 million yearly to address the needs of
:)60 million people. The President has asked that this sum be reduced to
:)$50 million. Even at the present level, direct federal allocations
:)represent about $1.65 per year for each illiterate.
:) In 1982, the Executive Director of the National Advisory Council on
:)Adult Education estimated that the government would need to spend about $5
:)billion to eradicate or seriously reduce the problem. The commission he
:)served was subsequently dismissed by presidential order.
:)...................
:)(quotes are direct from his book, copyright,1985) <all errors in typing
:)this are mine :)) >

:)LindaP


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