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Turning a page on literacy gap

Sean Duffy

Published January 21, 2006 at midnight

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The recent proposal floated by House Speaker Andrew Romanoff to require a student to have English proficiency to earn a high school diploma is, without doubt, an important way to start closing language gaps among immigrants - legal and illegal - in Colorado. But it also has another benefit: It addresses a massive literacy gap that a recent national study shows is blunting Colorado's, and the nation's, economic competitiveness. The speaker's solid proposal should become one part of an overall bipartisan focus on boosting literacy rates as a catalyst toward job creation and stronger economic growth.

Buried amid the distractions and Christmas wrappings was news of a major new study, by the federal government's National Center for Education Statistics, that showed 30 million Americans have woefully inadequate literacy skills - with 7 million of them ranked as nonliterate in English. Another 60 million Americans have only basic literacy skills.

Consider the practical facts behind these numbers.

• The 30 million Americans in the "below basic" category read so poorly that, according to national group ProLiteracy, they couldn't calculate a 5 cent per gallon discount on a home heating bill or fill out a simple medical form - much less a job application.

• The 60 million Americans who scored in the "basic" category lack the ability to adequately evaluate information in legal documents and possess only third- or fourth-grade math skills.

Above all, this literacy gap is a human tragedy because it robs millions of Americans of the chance to lead fuller, more successful and fulfilling lives. But beyond the loss to each individual, this gap is a serious and continuing loss to Colorado's - and the nation's - competitive edge. It is a deep wound to our ability to compete in the world economy since studies show that these literacy rates lag behind those of our key international economic competitors.

In fact, there is significant anecdotal evidence that the need for widespread basic skills training was a key reason that Toyota recently decided to locate a manufacturing plant in Canada rather than in the United States. The automaker wanted to avoid the significant training costs its competitors Nissan and Honda were saddled with at their U.S. facilities because of inadequate literacy skills.

Equally disturbing is that there has been no improvement in literacy rates since the last study was conducted in the 1990s. This means America's competitiveness has continued to erode. As author and globalization guru Thomas Friedman and others have chronicled in detail, the pace of technological change is so great, and the workplace demands of the high-tech economy have deepened so rapidly, that when we stand still, we're actually falling backward. And while there is, and should be, robust competition among the states - and Colorado is an aggressive and effective competitor - the real challenge comes from other nations.

One of our major competitors is India, where companies can find, regrettably, a more literate work force that requires less training - and which they can pay a fraction of what they pay American workers. Recent news reports showed that Indians, who once flocked to the United States for our standard of living and better salaries, are creating American-like suburban communities back home - and taking their skills with them. In fact, recent news reports showed that while Silicon Valley and other American technology hubs, including Colorado, retain a hold on high-end tech jobs, a wide range of lower-level positions, including key research and development work, are shifting to Bangalore, India.

This gap also has implications for governments - such as Colorado's - that are trying to survive the one-two punch of declining revenues and rising expenses. Federal statistics show that workers at the lower literacy rates earn, on average, $28,000 less per year than those who score at the "proficient" levels. This, of course, translates into reduced tax receipts. But, at the same time, those with lower literacy rates also are more likely to have higher health care costs, often borne by the government, and higher welfare costs. In fact, in health care alone, those with the lowest literacy rates have health care costs that are quadruple the national average.

While some may search for scapegoats, such as the K-12 education system, gaps there don't address the gaps of adults in the work force or adult immigrants with meager or no English skills. That's why the proposal to require English proficiency before graduation is such a positive step forward.

The national literacy study showed that, for example, 39 percent of Hispanic adults scored below basic - a rate three times the national average. Ensuring English proficiency upon graduation would reduce that number and expand the fortunes of Hispanic men and women when they enter the work force.

The legislature also should review the waterfront of Colorado literacy programs, public and private, to determine their effectiveness and the adequacy of their funding levels and to promote the best practices.

An even stronger, incentive-based work force training solution would be the creation of a warranty program where companies that discover their new hires lack basic literacy skills - despite having a high school diploma - could send that worker for the necessary education at the expense of the school that issued the diploma.

By taking a serious look at the state of literacy education in Colorado - what's good and what needs some help - policymakers would bolster the ongoing and aggressive efforts of chambers of commerce and economic development leaders to make our state a magnet for family sustaining jobs.

Even better, boosting unacceptably low literacy levels shouldn't contain an ounce of partisanship. Republican and Democratic policymakers understand that literacy is the cornerstone of economic development and job creation. Unless we take this competitiveness challenge seriously, we run the risk that while companies want to grow here in America by focusing on R&D, lagging literacy rates will force them to focus first on teaching workers their ABCs.

Sean Duffy served from 2001 to 2005 as deputy chief of staff and communications director to Gov. Bill Owens. He currently is a private sector political and public relations consultant.