Education reform is a controversial issue that affects every American. Today approximately 70 percent of inner city fourth graders are unable to read at a basic level on national reading test. U.S. high school seniors trail students in Cyprus and South Africa on international math tests. And nearly a third of our college freshmen find they must take a remedial course before they are able to even begin regular college level courses.
Studies indicate that illiteracy has a significant impact on the economy.
According to Literacy at Work, a study done by the Northeast Midwest Institute and The Center for Regional Policy found that business losses attribute to basic skill deficiencies run into the hundreds of millions of dollars because of low productivity, errors and accidents. The Department of Education estimates that 60 percent of the unemployed lack the basic skills necessary to be trained for high tech jobs. Peggie Ferguson, chairperson of the No Child Left Behind Committee, says that there are several reasons the tutoring program in Gastonia is special. We purchased books that are going to be used. The books will be highly correlated with the basil reading text.