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| Study Finds One-Third in D.C. Illiterate |
| 2007-03-20 |
| WASHINGTON — About one-third of the people living in the national's capital are functionally illiterate, compared with about one-fifth nationally, according to a report on the District of Columbia. Adults are considered functionally illiterate if they have trouble doing such things as comprehending bus schedules, reading maps and filling out job applications. The study by the State Education Agency, a quasi-governmental office created by the U.S. Department of Education to distribute federal funds for literacy services, was ordered by Mayor Anthony A. Williams in 2003 as part of his four-year, $4 million adult literacy initiative. The growing number of Hispanic and Ethiopian immigrants who aren't proficient in English contributed to the city's high functional illiteracy level, which translated to 170,000 people, said Connie Spinner, director of the State Education Agency. The report says the district's functional illiteracy rate is 36 percent and the nation's 21 percent. The District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce, which contributed to the report, said the city lost up to $107 million in taxes annually between 2000 and 2005 because of a lack of qualified job applicants. |
| Posted by:Dave D. |
| #20 DC/VA/MD Rantburgers! How about a meet at the Shakespeare Theatre Free-For-All at Carter-Barron this summer? They'll be doing Love's Labour Lost again; it's a quite fun production. And I thin we'd all like to see an example of the LLL we can enjoy. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-03-20 23:42 |
| #19 Wonder what john kary has two say about the lak of eddykatshun in the kapital. i wuz in dc the udder day and i axed a person on da street what was the kapital of the United States and he shocked me when he siad there were 2. the U and the S. (save your applause, i'm just the warm up guy) |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2007-03-20 23:26 |
| #18 rsjchwarz, you said it |
| Posted by: Mad Eye Spith1132 2007-03-20 20:17 |
| #17 Bitch set me up. Quit laughing, crackers! |
| Posted by: Hon. Marion Barry 2007-03-20 19:30 |
| #16 Hey, RJ, is that one of the things that gets handed over when the office changes hands? The Official D.C. Mayoral Office Crack Pipe? |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-03-20 18:33 |
| #15 I thought for sure the Mayor of D.C was going to fix things. I guess he had to smoke another rock first. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-03-20 17:07 |
| #14 False alarm. Turns out the researchers never left Capitol Hill while they were conducting the study. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2007-03-20 11:11 |
| #13 let me guess...throw more money at the problem and it'll go away? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-03-20 10:57 |
| #12 damn, broadhead beat me too it |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-03-20 10:45 |
| #11 dont most rantburgers live in DC |
| Posted by: Flaimp Fleremble4835 2007-03-20 10:14 |
| #10 We have a new mayor, who at least appears as if he cares, but the school system has to dig itself out of a very deep hole. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-03-20 09:32 |
| #9 Heck, TW, if they're going to raise the bar that high they better reevaluate that percentage. I suspect it's much worse than 1/3, particularly if they start including the Democrat members of Congress. |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-03-20 08:18 |
| #8 As I recall from my days as an adult literacy tutor, functionally illiterate means reading at or below a 6th grade level. Not the same as not being able to read at all. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-03-20 06:50 |
| #7 Like everywhere, I suppose, BPiB. Some work in construction, some drive cabs or work in convenience stores. A lot of folks I see in DC goverment use English as a second language. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-03-20 06:36 |
| #6 A lot of immigrants in D.C.? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan 2007-03-20 06:12 |
| #5 How about filling out welfare forms and drooling? Separately, not concurrently, of course! :-) |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-03-20 05:45 |
| #4 Adults are considered functionally illiterate if they have trouble doing such things as comprehending bus schedules, reading maps, |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-03-20 04:42 |
| #3 "Study Finds One-Third |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 in Iraq 2007-03-20 02:16 |
| #2 I guess that answers the question why the Clintons sent their spawn to private school instead of the public school... (That and the fact that the secret service would be out-gunned). |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-03-20 00:34 |
| #1 Based on my visits to DC, I am surprised that the percentage is so low. |
| Posted by: RWV 2007-03-20 00:30 |