In Missouri, that number was 38 percent. Kansas did not participate in the study. But I don't think it gets at the basic issue. We need to take a look at what's going on in the classrooms. The statistics are out there and they are clearly frightening.
Education is in crisis.
Clinton might take issue with Hoekstra's complaint, but not his conclusion. He's made education his chief priority in his second term and is doing all he can to try to build public support. The president's effort to support the work of 1 million volunteer tutors through the America Reads Challenge is a clear message that the solutions must come from the American people. Clinton also put Carol Rasco, a longtime friend of Clinton who recently headed his domestic policy council, in charge of the reading initiative. The study defined basic reading as understanding the overall meaning of what they read.