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Illiteracy and some solutions in the USA

by S. Bari
"No", flashes the computer screen "Conceive is spelt c-o-n-c-e-i-v-c. T comes before c’ except after c ." The student tries again. R1GI ITT On to the next one, and another mistake. "I'm never gonna learn this," moans the discouraged student at the keyboard. Next to him, another student works on her math: "63 ♦ 25." There Is a muted hum of activity in the cramped room, as student* work and chatter. Maps of the world line -the walls. The teacher admonishes someone as the chatter increases, just like In any 6th-grade classroom. Except that the students . here are almost ail over 25.
They are some of the functional illiterates of America, unable to read or calculate enough to lead a normal life. These men and women hold Job*, sometimes at the management-level; sonic run their own successful businesses;' a few even have high-school diplomas. Yet they cannot read highway signs or appliance in-
struction*. nor can they figure out why 25 cent* to u quarter of a dollar. 25 million adult Americans cannot read label* on product*; 35 million arc vocationally handicapped due to inadequate reading skill*.
Literacy expert* arc pointing to a variety of reasons for this epidemic: a lax school system. growing economic pains, inncr-clly trouble with drug*. Each factor is lied to the other, and authorities arc often at a loss which to tackle first.
Encouragement of creativity lead* to a far les* strict diaci-pline tn American schools than in their European or Asian counterparts. Failing one's *c-nior year In high school twice In arow led to automatic graduation. Teachers are paid appallingly low salaries (among the lowest of professional occupations such as medicine and law): an average of US •26,000 per year. Incentive to entering the teaching profession has been low. Lately, not only low pay has been the issue: 57% of the teacher* leaving their job* cited work conditions a* their reason, not salary. Violence, lack of discipline, drugs, excessive bureaucratic responsibilities, arc all culprits. One out of five teacher* need to supplement thetr income with a second Job. Fewer of the best university graduates are opting for teaching careers.
The urban areas arc those most at risk. Minorities »uch as blacks and Hispanic* are ■inking deeper into gang-controlled ghetto*. Parental abuse and drugs take their toll on children at this crucial stage of their education. Michael, 24, left school at 16 In order to work for a living, a task hl* errant father was incapable of doing. Don, 21, I* not allowed to work by hl* father, because the unemployment benefit* Don receive* from the Government aupport the entire family. The list of highschool dropout* and undereducated unemployed youth keeps growing. Family tics arc loosening all over the country, and through a wide spectrum of social classes, despite TV sitcom* that »how children and parents embracing In the final shot of every episode.
Literacy is lower in the South, which *uffer* from ■lower economic growth and higher concentrations of im migrants, and poverty Is more widespread. In Texas alone,
over half a million people arc functionally illiterate
Bush ha* billed hlm*clf a* the Education President, since panic 1* growing as tests and surveys rank American schoolchildren behind those of other developed countries.
Asian minorities are doing disproportionately well, a phenomenon that many find disturbing.
The teaching profession has been promoted, and various plans for improving school performance are being implemented. But the adults who missed such improvements arc the ones that are suffering the most as a result. For this group, literacy programs (often called Adult Basic Education) arc mushrooming. ! visited one •uch class, offered by the state tuition-free.
The majority of the student* read and calculate at or below a 6th-grade level. Some have noncthck:** worked for years, and air now required by their employers to obtain a GED (General Education Diploma) In order to keep their Jobs.
Others have recognized the handicap of limited reading skills, and attend class in the hope of training for better-paid professions.
Samson, In his thirties, has gone through life with no concept of money or of handling change. An abusive mother al home, and a severe learning disability, have hampered his progress. Juan, of Mexican heritage, was Injured on Ihc job, and suffered partial memory loss
The overwhelming majority of these adults have Hispanic names, and a disturbing number arc black. The class Is a graphic example of how far racial unity has really progressed In the country of Martin Luther King.
In order to be promoted, a •tudent must improve by one grade-level per •cmealer. About 50% achieve this goal. Computers are available, but only by rote. Spelling and math lake up most of the time, with bask: science and ■octal slud tea as additional subject*.
Teacher* will tell ihc student* about a particular country, the people, and a little of It* geography. When told I wa* from Switzerland, they wanted lo ■ee it on the map.
There to room for improvement. Some literacy program* are money-making scam*. But those that do offer free classes arc also beset by financial troubles. IfoHtic* and cronyism run rife, according lo Insiders, and, as a result, efficiency is far below the potential.
Recently school districts were denied more federal funding, and education professional* are upset about the neglect.
"Poor education can only lead to more students turning up at adult education classes later in their life. The taxpayer had better pay now for the kids, than later for the adults," was one teacher's opinion.
The victims of lack of funding and poor management arc always the students themselves. When they decide to attend a literacy class, it is a decision Involving Job and family: how to gel part-time work, where to leave the kids. One man was well-paid as a security guard, but slept through class because of the long night hour*.
Leaving, on Ihc other hand, is an easy decision. Through the Inevitable frustration* and monetary difficulties, the student* must try lo slay on, and all that is possible must be done by the administration to see that this Is what happens.
Because when they leave, like 26-ycar old Bruce. It is for the streets and the drug* that they head, abandoning all hope of a decent future.