Children’s Listeracy is no small challenge in the US, in Florida and, in Tampa.  Here are some statistics that give you an idea of what children are dealing with here:

2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare.”
www.begintoread.com/research/literacystatistics.html

Over one million children drop out of school each year, costing the nation over $240 billion in lost earnings, forgone tax revenues, and expenditures for social services
McQuillan, 1998

44 million adults in the U.S. can’t read well enough to read a simple story to a child.
National Adult Literacy Survey (1992)
NCED, U.S. Department of Education

In a class of 20 students, few if any teachers can find even 5 minutes of time in a day to devote to reading with each student.
Dr. M.J. Adams, 2002, Principal Scientist of Phonics instruction at Scholastic and Literacy Advisor to Sesame Street

Disadvantaged students in the first grade have a vocabulary that is approximately half that of an advantaged student (2,900 and 5,800 respectively).
Graves, 1986 / White, Graves & Slater, 1990

Good readers in 5th grade may read 10 times as many words as poor readers over a school year.
Nagy and Anderson, 1984

Only one-third of 4th graders are able to read proficiently.
nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/main2013/pdf/2014451.pdf

In a study of literacy among 20 ‘high income’ countries; US ranked 12th.
According to a report by the Educational Testing Service.

Teenage girls between the ages of 16 to 19 who live at or below the poverty line and have below average literacy skills are 6 times (600%) more likely to have children out of wedlock than girls their age who can read proficiently.
WriteExpress Corporation. “Literacy Statistics.” Begin To Read

43% of adult with very low literacy skills live in poverty.
The National Institute for Literacy

An American Management Association survey of member and client companies found that 34.1% of job applicants lack the literacy skills they need for the job for which they are applying.
U.S. Adult Literacy Programs: Making a Difference. ProLiteracy America

More than 40 percent of American workers have inadequate literacy skills
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education. April 2005

Q: There are 250 schools in Hillsborough County, Florida. Title I schools are those where 75% of the students are sufficiently disadvantaged that they qualify for free or reduced cost meals. Out of 250 schools, how many are Title I?
A: “Poor performance can track closely with poverty levels, and Title 1 schools account for 150 of Hillsborough’s 250 schools.”
Hillsborough County, School Board Website 2015

Q: Renaissance schools are those where over 90% of the students qualify for free meals. Out of 250 total schools in Hillsborough County, Florida, how many are Renaissance Schools?
A: Fifty of those Title I schools are known as Renaissance schools, where at least 90% of the student body qualifies for free meals. Most of these schools received a C grade or lower from the Florida Department of Education.
Hillsborough County, School Board Website 2015

In Hillsborough County, approximately 58% of students qualify for free or reduced lunches. Below are the criteria for determining whether a student qualifies:

• All children in households receiving benefits from SNAP (food stamps) or TANF, are eligible for free meals.
• Foster children that are under the legal responsibility of a foster care agency or court are eligible for free meals.
• Children participating in their school’s Head Start program are eligible for free meals.
• Children who meet the definition of homeless, runaway, or migrant are eligible for free meals.
• Children may receive free or reduced price meals if your household’s income is within the limits on the Federal Income Eligibility Guidelines. Children may qualify for free or reduced price meals if total household income falls at or below certain limits. As an example, a child living with a single mother whose income was below $20,709 per year would qualify for free meals.

Students reading below grade level are twice as likely to drop out of school.
Source:2006 READ 180 Awards

Teen girls in bottom 20% of basic reading and math skills are five times more likely to become mothers over a two year high school period than teen girls in the top 20%.
Source: Alliance for Excellent Education, 2003

More than 2.6 million adults in Florida— or 20 percent of those 16 and older — lack even the most basic reading skills.
Source: The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

The average child growing up in a low-income family has only been exposed to 25 hours of one-on-one reading [during their entire life].
Source: McQuillan, J. (1998).
The Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions. Heinemann. (from the “Reading Is Fundamental” )