An Open Letter about Adult Literacy from the President of ProLiteracy Worldwide

i>Education’s Dirty little Secret

Shocking. Frightening. Stunning. Shameful. Disastrous.

Talk show hosts and their callers and the national news media used these words this week to describe the findings of a report on adult literacy. Commissioned by the mayor of Washington, D.C., the report found that one out of every three people living in the capital of one of the richest nations of the world can barely read or write.

Even more surprising, the reporters announced, is the fact that one in five adults in the U.S. is functionally illiterate — that’s 30 million people over the age of 16 who are unable to fill out a job application, follow a bus schedule, or apply for a driver’s license. What the media did not mention is the fact that another 63 million adults read and write only slightly better than the 30 million.

Yes, we should be shocked. Yes, we should be frightened. Low literate adults are more likely than good readers to be unemployed or need public assistance. They are uninformed consumers. They struggle to negotiate our health care system. They cannot support their children’s educational activities.

But we should not be surprised.

We address our adult literacy issue primarily by making improvements in the K-12 public school system. This is education’s “dirty little secret” — it is willing to sacrifice some 30+ million of today’s adults in the hope that we will grow our way out of the problem of adults with low literacy skills as today’s children mature.

This approach neglects several major factors. First, a substantial number of adults with low literacy skills are adult immigrants who will never attend our public schools. And the number of immigrants to the U.S. increases every year. Second, the research is clear — children whose parents or caregivers are literate grow up to become literate adults. Also, the growing numbers of “dropout-pushout” students shows that, no matter how early children start school and no matter how many interventions are applied, there still will be a number of children at risk of becoming low literate adults. Are we willing to sacrifice these young people as well?

Both parents and children are important parts of the learning equation. But public and private funding for adult basic and literacy education covers instruction for just 3 million adults a year. These programs, sponsored by local education agencies (schools), and community-based organizations, are not seen as an integral part of the nation’s education strategy, therefore, funding them is not essential.

Why is this so? Is it because many of the potential adult learners are immigrants not all of whom are legal? Is it because many of the potential learners are ex-offenders, substance abusers or have other major issues in their lives? Is it because we often blame them for their situation, seeing them as people who “failed to learn” as children? Or is it because they represent this country’s most marginalized population — those who earn little, pay little taxes, do not vote and do not participate in the civic and social affairs of their communities. They are unseen and unheard, which is how they remain a secret.

We should be ashamed.

Robert Wedgeworth
President/CEO
ProLiteracy Worldwide is the largest organization of adult basic education and literacy programs in the world.