Monday, April 10, 2006

[Comment] Literacy help for adults, kids can end poverty

from The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

By Judith Stabelli

The United Way’s program March 27, “The Condition of Children: Socioeconomic and Racial Disparity,” recounted the intergenerational cycle of poverty and concludes that “there are too many children in our community who face obstacles that restrict their successful passage through childhood.”

At The Literacy Alliance, we see the causes and effects of childhood poverty because we serve the population described in the United Way report. Our adult students experience poverty’s obstacles, which are directly related to low literacy.

Among this year’s students, 49 percent are unemployed, and 52 percent earn less than $20,000 annually. The majority want to prepare for the GED exam, meaning they didn’t finish high school. Most seek the GED as a path toward a better job. Many are parents. Fifty-six percent have children in the home. Many are young adults who will someday be parents. Their dedication and sacrifices in pursuit of the GED prove their desire to get good work and provide for their children.

In “Why America Needs an Educated and Prepared Workforce,” the Department of Labor reveals the connection between low literacy and poverty. Nationally, the unemployment rate for people without a diploma is 8.5 percent, compared to 5 percent for high school graduates and 2.7 percent for college graduates. For those without diplomas who are employed, their average weekly incomes are $479. Their struggles for the basics and their low literacy skills negatively affect their ability to become involved in their children’s education. A focus group of high school dropouts was gathered by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to examine Indiana’s dropout crisis. It revealed that of the participants’ parents, 40 percent never attained a high school diploma.

The United Way report notes how poverty affects children. “Poverty impacts our children through short- or long-term consequences that characterize their childhoods and frequently, their adulthoods.” Parents in poverty struggle to provide basic nutrition, health and housing. They are not able to provide crucial elements that lead to “a supportive, unhampered childhood.” Maintaining a safe, stable, stimulating home environment is a constant challenge. They can’t access high-quality child care.

Consequently, children of poverty enter school unprepared. According to the United Way report, on average, between disadvantaged students and the rest in Allen County’s four school districts, there’s a 28 percent difference in English proficiency and a 24 percent difference in math proficiency in ISTEP+ scores. Children of poverty fall behind. Some give up and drop out. Some get into trouble. Many become parents, and the cycle of low educational attainment continues. Low literacy continues.

Last year, The Literacy Alliance served 614 adult students. With free child care at three of our learning centers, children can be safe and close to their parents as they study. In our family literacy program, parents study, receive parent support and share focused, structured activities with their children while their children receive instruction. By providing books and encouragement to parents and caregivers, its Read to Me programs promote reading to preschool age children every day.

Since 1988, our programs have been dedicated to ending low literacy in Allen County by helping people succeed at work, at home and in the community.

Judith Stabelli is executive director of The Literacy Alliance. She wrote this for The Journal Gazette.

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