By Kristen A. Graham
Philly.com
Public schools are a perpetual worry for Philadelphia, and scant attention is often paid to another weighty educational problem: adults who struggle to read.
But nearly half of all adults in the city - more than half a million men and women - lack the basic skills necessary to qualify for postsecondary training or hold jobs that permit them to support a family. Many function below eighth-grade levels.
The Mayor’s Commission on Literacy is making inroads. Its work is attracting national attention: praise from the U.S. Department of Education, and designation as a model site from Digital Promise, a nonprofit established by act of Congress in 2008 to use technology to improve education for all Americans.
In 2011, Mayor Nutter revamped the commission, decrying the city’s “serious literacy crisis.” Three years later, the commission became the nation’s first provider to offer free, online, interactive courses for men and women with low literacy and math skills.
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