Thirty-six percent of D.C. residents ages 16 and over are currently functioning at the lowest level of literacy, according to a report released last week by the State Education Agency.
The lowest level of literacy is defined by the State Education Agency, as people who "can perform no more than the most simple and concrete literacy skills." According to the report, over 170,000 people in the District function at this level of literacy.
Last week The State Education Agency released its State of Adult Literacy Report. The report highlights the correlation between poverty and illiteracy and explains the continuous cycle of illiteracy, unemployment and poverty for D.C. residents.
Nationwide, an average of 21 to 23 percent of the population falls under this category.
Abby Nash, a sophomore in the School of Communication, said she was shocked when told of the low literacy rate.
"That's horrendous, because illiteracy is one of the things that holds people back," Nash said.
Kenneth Hammitt, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, said he was not surprised by the low rate.
"There is a large poor population living in the city and the school system in D.C. certainly isn't doing its job," Hammitt said. "But I know the schools don't have the funding they really need. There is also a large immigrant population in the city who probably can't speak much English."
The report stresses the day-to-day problems faced by those struggling with illiteracy, as well as the wider financial impact of illiteracy in the District. Illiteracy limits a person's employability, leaving jobs unfilled and costing the District over $100 million in lost potential income tax revenue between 2000 and 2005, according to the report.
Sarah Irvine, associate professor and dean of the School of Education, Teaching and Health within the College of Arts and Sciences, said she sees the report as a source of "broad information about literacy in D.C."
Irvine said this collection of data places the District in line with most major cities in the U.S., where the most significant urban illiteracy occurs in the areas with significant urban poverty.
Irvine emphasized the importance of accurate and applicable data when considering reports such as this.
"Sometimes we just don't have a good way of measuring literacy, especially in D.C.," she said.
An often-contentious point when gauging literacy is whether a person who is fully proficient in a language other than English should be categorized as illiterate. Irvine said literacy data often fails to account for the multicultural, multilingual nature of cities.
While this report focuses on adult literacy, the school system comes into the equation as a place to prevent future adult illiteracy. Irvine said she recognizes that the schools could be improved but hopes that the report won't cause undue criticism of teachers in the District.
"I've actually seen some of the best teaching in the country in D.C.," she said.
Former Mayor Anthony Williams ordered the report in 2004 as part of his three-year, $20 million adult literacy initiative, according to the State Education Agency.
The State Education Agency hopes to expand literary resources, improve training programs for adult literacy teachers and create a more direct connection between federally and privately funded adult literacy programs and the workforce, according to the report.
The report calls for longtime planning, strategizing and goal-setting from policy makers and the public in order to address the adult illiteracy problem in the District.
The Agency was created by the Department of Education to manage and distribute funds for literacy services, according to its Web site.
Max Rollinger, a sophomore in SOC, said he does not believe the training programs or any other new resource will make a difference.
"Our public education system is so beyond fixing, that it won't make that much difference in the end," he said.
The State Education Agency did not respond to calls for comment on the report.
