th grade reading level; one out of every four teenagers drops out of high school, and of those who graduate, one out of every four has the equivalent or less of aneighth grade education.According to current estimates, the number of functionally illiterate adults is increasing by approximately two and one quarter million persons each year. Thisnumber includes nearly 1 million young people who drop out of school before graduation, 400,000 legal immigrants, 100,000 refugees, and 800,000 illegalimmigrants, and 20 % of all high school graduates. Eighty-four percent of the 23,000 people who took an exam for entry-level jobs at New York Telephone in1988, failed. More than half of Fortune 500 companies have become educators of last resort, with the cost of remedial employee training in the three R's reachingmore than 300 million dollars a year. One estimate places the yearly cost in welfare programs and unemployment compensation due to illiteracy at six billiondollars. An additional 237 billion dollars a year in unrealized earnings is forfeited by persons who lack basic reading skills, according to Literacy Volunteers ofAmerica.The federal government alone has more than 79 literacy-related programs administered by 14 federal agencies. The total amount of money being spent on illiteracyby the federal government can only be guessed at, because there has never been a complete assessment prepared. A conservative estimate would place the amountat more than ten billion dollars each year, and growing steadily.Why does America have a reading problem?The question that must be asked is this: Why does America have a reading problem at all? We are the most affluent and technologically advanced of all the industrialnations on earth. We have "free" compulsory education for all, a network of state-owned and -operated teachers' colleges, strict teacher certification requirements,and more money and resources dedicated to educating our children than any other na...
