Poverty in turn is closely associated with poor performance in school. And young people who drop out of school are more likely than others to wind up in jail. Equally troubling is the growth in the percentage of the population over 65. And, mobility complicates everything. Young, educated natives of poor states and regions move in search of jobs.
Uneducated immigrants enter the United States to flee poverty and war in their homelands.
Closing this literacy gap is just as important to our economy as reducing the national debt. Richard Riley US Secretary of Education Richard Riley called on Americans to continue investing in education, even as they try to balance the federal budget. In fact, he called for a faster pace in educational reform, saying the era of dumbing down in education has ended. Reading topped Riley's list of needed improvements. While reading skills have remained stagnant, jobs are requiring higher levels of reading comprehension.