FWD: "Illiterate America"

["Mark W. McBride, president, SPCS, Inc." <spcsinc -at- INTERSURF -dot- COM>]

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