Former Secretary of the Army Pete Geren told Newsmax on Friday that parents must be aware of the ongoing child literacy "crisis" in the United States, noting that "most of our kids do not read proficiently" according to recent data.
Geren, the chief executive of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, told "Newsline" that the organization is working to promote child literacy and "alert parents" about the declining reading proficiency rates among children in the U.S.
"Every two years, we get the Nation's Report Card," the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federal assessment of students across the country, "and we're reminded that not some of our kids, but most of our kids do not read proficiently."
He added, "The nation's report card shows us that around a third of our kids read proficiently," meaning that most children are "not reading at grade level" and "without an intervention, 2% are going to go to college, 80% are going to either end up ... on welfare or in the prison system."
Geren said this is "a crisis" for America that his campaign is trying to "alert parents" about.
"The first step is to raise awareness of parents," Geren said. "National polling showed that over 90% of parents believe their children are reading at grade level, and what we've learned is, if you ask your child to read to you, it's likely if you're in that 70% of kids" that cannot read proficiently "it's going to raise a red flag."
"Just the simple act of asking your child to read out loud to you ... many people are going to be surprised at the competency level of their kids," Geren said.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.