Posted on 09/09/2004 10:09:38 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
Continued immigration and a stubborn high school dropout rate have stymied efforts to improve literacy in Los Angeles County, where more than half the working-age population can't read a simple form, a report released Wednesday found. Alarmingly, only one in every 10 workers deemed functionally illiterate is enrolled in literacy classes and half of them drop out within three weeks, said the study by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.
"It's an emergency situation," said Mayor James Hahn, adding that poor literacy rates could jeopardize the region's economy by driving out high-tech businesses and other industries that pay well.
In the Los Angeles region, 53 percent of workers ages 16 and older were deemed functionally illiterate, the study said.
That percentage dropped to 44 percent in the greater San Fernando Valley -- which includes Agoura Hills and Santa Clarita -- but soared to 85 percent in some pockets of the Valley.
The study measured levels of literacy across the region using data from the 2000 Census, the U.S. Department of Education and a survey of literacy programs taken from last September to January.
It classified 3.8 million Los Angeles County residents as "low-literate," meaning they could not write a note explaining a billing error, use a bus schedule or locate an intersection on a street map.
And despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent in public schools over the past decade to boost literacy rates, functional illiteracy levels have remained flat because of a steady influx of non-English-speaking immigrants and a 30 percent high school dropout rate, authors of the report said.
The last available national study was conducted in 1992 by the National Adult Literacy Survey, which found that 48 percent of the nation's working-age population was functionally illiterate.
"This is a ticking time bomb, a dirty secret we don't want to talk about. We are losing the battle," said Mark Drummond, chancellor of California's community college system.
Dozens of community-based groups, including the Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District and other public agencies vowed to improve programs over the next five years by connecting English learners with employers and educating 1,000 workers with English-language deficiencies during the next two years.
A top priority should be making classes more accessible. For example, the report found that no school in the county offered Saturday classes or tailored classes for adult students with families or multiple jobs.
And while nearly 90 percent of adults take literacy classes to improve their employment opportunities, only 30 percent of literacy programs include the workplace in their instruction.
"It's appalling," said Marge Nichols, the author of the study. "A 50 percent dropout rate (for literacy classes) is pretty dysfunctional. We haven't kept up."
Though the report offers no estimate for the cost of functional illiteracy, the National Right to Read Foundation places the price tag nationally at $224 billion. And local observers say untold millions are being lost by would-be employers who move to other cities in search of highly skilled workers.
Before he enrolled in a literacy class at the North Valley Occupational Center, Adolio Gonzales, 29, was intimidated by filling out job applications or even going to an amusement park.
"I didn't want to go to Disneyland because I thought it was so complicated," said the Reseda resident, who waits tables at a Carrows restaurant and wants to become a computer programmer.
Gonzales emigrated from Guatemala seven years ago and taught himself to speak English by watching television programs.
But he often found himself confused by the simplest task, and had trouble filling out an application at a fast-food restaurant two years ago.
"The application asked why I wanted to work for this company and I didn't know what to answer," he said.
Then, he enrolled in the literacy class, which emphasizes the basics, like filling out forms and reading the newspaper.
"I feel comfortable now, like I can do anything."
Have to keep padding the teacher union higher ups' coffers.
thats because they are all illegals...
Hmmm, 53%. Now I wonder what group makes up the majority of that 53%. You just as well consider 53% of L.A.'s residents to be here without documents. I'm shocked...
Annexation.
Doubtful; all the forms are in both.
Yeah, but who's annexing who?
You know bud, it angers me thinking that those who drive 50% of the cars on the roads in some areas, upwards of one third of the kids in LA Unified, over 80% of those receiving services at LA County owned hospitals are illegal immigrants.
Where's our disaster relief? Yeah, I know. The check's in the mail.
Sample ballots
This is because many of these people when they were in high school were intimidated by the American culture. Further, many of them had to drop out because they got pregnant, due to not knowing how to use contraceptives properly.
The answer to LA's illiteracy crisis is more time spent on multiculturalism in the classroom, and more school funding for training in the fine art of condom useage. Reading, Writing and English classes are just getting in the way of the really important things our schools need to accomplish.
That was my first thought.
Que?
I believe they can ask for "help" in the voting booth.
You're being sarcastic, but in fact Bush isn't doing much to halt illegal immigration - - and he's doing a lot to encourage it with his amnesty plan.
Unless California licenses plates unlike any other state, odds are you have only seen ONE "La Raza" plate.
The really harmful part is the facile way in which Dems call anyone who even notices the problem a racist for cheap poltiical gain and the purpose of increasing servitude on the liberal dependency plantation.
They may well be, but the illegals have PLENTY of "immigrant advocacy" groups (read: Raza-Nazi communists) helping along the way, including getting their paperwork done.
Reseda--I moved FROM Reseda, after living there 27 years because of this problem and the ones like it.
I could no longer do business at a restaurant, dry cleaners, gas station, hardware store, etc, because I spoke ENGLISH and these intruders did NOT. I got too frustrated with trying to communicate a simple order for a samdwich and a coca cola with no ice. It ALWAYS came with ice, and there were totally "deer in the headlights" looks
when I asked for it the way I ordered it. Had to speak to "manager" more than once. They often weren't much better. Sure took the enjoyment out of going out to eat. Notice that the article doesn't clarify if the worker at Carrows was illegal intruder or not.
True story: McDonalds on Parthenia near Tampa, just north of Reseda in Northridge: Employee didn't speak English. COULD NOT take an order from a customer in English. A second employee stood there, on the crowded back counter at lunch time, translating order from customer to "order taker" who then struggled to put info into computer and then find the items, all of which had wrappers printed in English. One of my best friends had a total hissy fit about this-MIDDLE OF THE LUNCH PERIOD- and flat raised a ruckus. Manager told him there was nothing he could do about it. My friend said if he came in again and witnessed the same thing, the shop lunches he bought there every day to the tune of $75-100, 6 days a week would be purchased elsewhere. He went elsewhere after that. I don't think there is a single McDonalds in the country that can walk away from prox $2000 a month from one source of customers, a nearby machine shop.
A by-product of these "employees" is the fact that their non-working "friends" start hanging around the place of business, hanging in the parking lots, loitering, just waiting to chat with their working friends during breaks, lunches, etc. This becomes a completely separate problem, but it is very off-putting for customers. Made me quit going more to than one place. Even when I expressed my discomfort to managers, they were too scared or too stupid to address the problem. It didn't take long for fairly busy places to be scratching for customers.
I think the efforts to teach "bi-lingual" classes for years in LA is also part of the problem here. Millions of dollars of money were wasted. The longer you coddle these people, the longer they take to learn the English language. I think they also develop the idea that we should learn their languages. I will--when and ONLY WHEN I go to their country, not one second earlier.
The fact that someone is now complaining that there is such a high rate of illiteracy in Southern Calif is no news to me. I have alot more stories about how frustrating it became to live there. They cannot make change. They cannot give directions. They cannot count items to ring them up. They are a disaster to the employer, especially the small businessman.
Add all the other costs of doing business in Calif, and there is no secret why businesses are closing and starting up out of the state. Cannot fire or lay these people off without penalties, so you move to a new place, out of state, and wipe the slate clean and start over.
This is a cancer that needs to be addressed. Most are here illegally. Ship them out, and keep them out.
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