>>>>Almost 1/2 the people in Detroit are functionally illiterate? That's just nuts!
>>>>
>>>>http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/05/04/report-nearly-half-of-detroiters-cant-read/
>>>
>>>I'd say this is about right. Memphis is probably in similar shape, as are a lot of cities that have similar demographics. It is well known that black, inner city, kids try their best to dissuade learning. They are more into gang banging. Add the absence of a strong father figure to the equation and you have a very consistent formula for failure.
>>
>>I read from several sources that 1 in 7 USA adults is functionally illiterate. How in the heck can 1/7th of the adults in the USA be so uneducated? Isn't "functionally literate" mean like 7th grade reading ability? (which is like 4th grade reading ability when I was in school)
>
>I agree with you on the changing standards. when my daughter was in the 4th grade she attended a private school and at the end of the year she tested out at the 9th grade reading level. The next year she attended public school and after her first week, she came home and asked me why her classmates couldn't read very well....and sadly, some of those kids still cannot.

One of the main reasons we stay out here in the middle of nowhere is due to the public school system here. In general I'm impressed by the quality of the teachers and by the fact that they actually try to get kids to do their best. Having small class sizes helps a lot.

My youngest boy (Michael) is in 6th grade and reads as well as most adults. His spelling and grammar equal his reading skill (his writing is atrocious - must have inherited that from his mother!).

Most of his classmates are very capable readers as well.

The school system picked up on Michaels skills in kindergarten - he's been in the gifted program all along and he skipped 3rd grade entirely. They've wanted to bump him up another grade but we have resisted that - not good socially (being the socialite I am, I really know how this works).

His teachers all go out of their way to keep him challenged and working rather than treat him as just another number. They try to do that for any student with special needs (whatever they are).

It's too bad this is not the standard in other areas of the country.

Our oldest boy (my stepson - now in college) was in Florida public schools until 7th grade when we moved out here. Just another number in Florida - their solution to his non-conformity was to push ritalin for him. Luckily his mother told them where to shove that.

Once we moved out here, it took him about a year to settle in to the school system where he turned out to be a model student.

With effort from the parents and the schools, these kids do not have to grow into the zombies that are coming out of the school systems today.