But low reading scores are not just a problem for low-income neighborhoods. Throughout the state, there are 60 school districts with reading scores lower than APS' scores. Every year approximately one-third of our students drop out of school. Together, we started to this pilot project on a trial basis to demonstrate that early literacy is cost-effective and to prove that early literacy warrants statewide funding. Imagine if we achieved these results at every elementary school in every school district throughout New Mexico.
Early literacy has immediate and automatic savings.
Across the nation, schools that have successfully increased their early reading scores have dramatically decreased their costs for special education and class retention. Early literacy also has a benefit that cannot be quantified. This is the benefit that all students gain when they are in a classroom in which all students can read at grade level. Any teacher will tell you that one disruptive student can ruin the entire class for everyone. And teachers will also tell you that students with low reading skills typically engage in disruptive behavior in order to avoid participating in class work because their inability to read makes them feel like failures.