Between 1900 and 1950, literacy among Americans 14 years and older rose dramatically. The 1950 Census found that illiteracy was below 3% in two-thirds of the states and below 10% in all states. These studies defined illiteracy as a complete inability to read English or any other language.

Seventy-five years later, that definition has changed a bit, but literacy in our country is growing worse.

The National Literacy Institute reports that 21% of today’s adults are illiterate, while 45 million are functionally illiterate, meaning they lack the reading skills necessary for functioning at work or in daily life. The United States ranks 36th globally in literacy, and poor reading skills cost our country over $2 trillion dollars a year.

These statistics mean that for the foreseeable future

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