Let’s get to work.
To my fellow literacy allies:
On January 2nd, Councilmember Brooke Pinto led my Swearing-In Ceremony. Over the next 4 years, I commit to making the following question my top priority: What can I do to advance literacy across DC?
Literacy matters. Children who do not read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to leave school without a diploma. This affects all of us. Not preparing our students to read proficiently by third grade will lead us down a path of reduced economic output, weakened national security, and deepened mistrust.
Our founding fathers wrote extensively about the importance of literacy education as the foundations of a vibrant democracy. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights names literacy as both a right in itself and an instrument for achieving other human rights. Literacy matters.
My father immigrated to DC from Taipei. Though he couldn’t teach me how to read, he worked hard as a waiter here in DC’s Chinatown in order to connect me to literacy-learning opportunities. I will work with you to connect every student with similar opportunities.
We do not have time to stall. In 2019, only 30% of 4th grade students in DC performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level in reading. This fall, kindergartners hitting early literacy targets dropped by 11%, for first-graders the drop was 12%, and for 2nd graders it was 7%. In other words, 70% of our 4th graders were not reading proficiently before the pandemic, and this problem is now rapidly worsening.
Learning how to read is just the baseline. In 2021, we must also equip our students with media literacy, information literacy, digital literacy, financial literacy, health literacy, cultural literacy, and environmental literacy. We must prepare our students to navigate emerging technologies, to distinguish between fact from fiction online, and to make informed choices.
Whether or not you have school-aged children, whether or not your kids already read proficiently, I ask you to join me in asking what each of us can do today, tomorrow, and the days after to advance literacy. All of us have roles to play as literacy allies.
Sincerely yours,
Allister