Literacy:
Spanning the U.S.
Literacy skills coming
up short in the Midlands
According to a number of
studies when it comes to basic literacy skills, thousands of adults in South
Carolina come up short.
One group in the
Midlands is working to improve their quality of life by teaching them how to
read and write.Turning Pages Learning
Program has been helping adults better their education since 1968.
Empowering people drives
longtime literacy volunteer
Palm
Beach Post: 3.12.2015 by Dianna Smith
Ken Montgomery is a man
who knows a thing or two about what it’s like to sit on a board and operate a
business.
Currently the owner of
a consulting group that helps improve companies’ performances and also a
licensed yacht broker, Montgomery, 66, has been a member of 30 or so
professional boards over the years.
But none of them can
even compare to the board for the Boynton Beach-based Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County,
of which he’s been member for the past 25 years. Perhaps this volunteer job is
more special than the others because Montgomery is one of the coalition’s
founding members.
Being a part of it is
something he never plans to give up because, unlike other committees, he said
that people actually set aside their differences and work together for a common
goal: to help people read.
“People put principle
above profit,” he said. “That’s what’s so unique.” READ
MORE !
Increasing basic
literacy is changing lives
Greenville
Online: 3.14.2015 by Judith S. Prince
Imagine not being able
to read to your children, understand the prices in the supermarket, or read
directions on a prescription bottle! This is a reality for roughly 32 million
in our country, as 14 percent of Americans can’t read. And, 21 percent read
below a fifth grade level.
Yet to succeed in
today’s complex world, a person must be able to read, write, do math and use a
computer. Without the ability to effectively use written and digital
information, the cycle of poverty will never be broken.
There are 56,000 adults
in Greenville County who do not have literacy skills needed for employment and
do not have a GED or a high school diploma. The cost of this lack of education
is shocking.
Carol Browning,
executive director of the Greenville
Literacy Association (GLA), calculated that the average annual income for
an adult in Greenville County without such credentials is $10,800, which is
below recognized poverty levels for the Upstate. The annual earning power of an
adult with a high school diploma or GED, however, averages around $24,900.
This lack of education
carries a societal cost. According to 2012 U.S. Census statistics, public
assistance can comprise up to 53 percent of the income needed to sustain adults
at the lowest income levels. Subsidies for housing, food assistance (SNAP), and
health insurance through Medicaid average over $12,300 for low-wage adults.
One has only to
multiply $12,300 by 56,000 to see the enormous cost of illiteracy to the
Greenville community. Contrast that cost with the cost to educate one student
at the Greenville Literacy Association — about $685 a year. There is a 216
percent return for investing in GED or high school equivalency courses! READ
MORE !
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