There are many aspects of this last minute change that are still relatively blurry. How do teachers provide tests to students online while ensuring that they’re not getting outside help? How do they make sure participation is still upheld when many home environments aren’t prepared to facilitate learning? And one of the biggest issues for teachers in minority-rich and low-income schools is how do they get participation and involvement from non-English speaking families?

Last year, I was a teacher at a hybrid elementary-middle school right at the border of Miami-Dade County. Forty-seven percent of the students at that school are Hispanic and for a smaller-sized charter school, this is a large portion of its population. Fortunately, coming to the U.S. from Argentina when I was young, my first language was Spanish, which is still the primary language I speak with my own parents. Due to the large percentage of Hispanic families at my job, nearly half of my correspondence and meetings with parents were in Spanish. I would also sit in on parent-teacher conferences for other teachers that needed a translator for the non-English speaking parent of a student in their homeroom.

It was hard to watch a parent hear for the first time, during their first conference of the year, that their child was in danger of repeating the grade. Some had not been able to read the conference request in English, some had not been able to take time off in the middle of the day during one of their two or three jobs, and some trusted their child to keep up with schoolwork while they worked to provide for their family. In my mind, this sparked several issues that I thought about even after I left the school – who needs to be held accountable for steady communication about a child’s in-school progress? Is it the teacher, the parent, the student themselves or an unrealistically perfect balance of the three? And with parent-teacher communication being such a crucial factor in any child’s education, how does a teacher encourage parents and students to be accountable for a child’s home learning?

Language barriers are not new for school boards and educators in the United States. The Equal Education Opportunity Act (EEOA) requires teachers to accommodate English Language Learners (ELLs) under federal law by removing any language barriers to the best of their ability. Most colleges in the U.S. offer English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching certifications and courses for those studying education so they are made aware of the accommodations they can provide to ELLs, such as the use of graphic organizers, dictionaries and text adaptations. But just as there are required accommodations for students learning English in the classroom, there should be a similar notion of inclusiveness for non-English speaking parents and families. The EEOA does require paperwork and forms to be given to non-English speaking parents in a language they can understand. But teachers and school administrators, especially in predominantly white areas, can still be neglectful when it comes to one-on-one communication and overall efforts to include a non-English speaking parent in their child’s education through conferences and email correspondence. What hinders this one-on-one communication? The fact that, even with an influx of students who speak a second language at home enrolling in U.S. schools, the majority of teachers in the United States are white.

Now, if this is a hurdle that immigrant families need to overcome in a regular educational environment, will this just get worse with virtual school? The simple answer is yes. Teachers are readjusting course materials, overcoming the cancellation of state testing in all 50 states, and figuring out different ways to communicate with parents online. Non-English speaking families, who already don’t get enough communication from schools regarding their child’s educational performance and data, will probably lack the necessary information to keep up with the rapid changes. They’ll almost certainly get typical coronavirus updates in their native language through the school board, but will it be enough to keep them fully in the loop while also being tailored to their child’s specific educational needs and responsibilities? And even though many schools in the U.S. have an ESL facilitator as part of the school’s ESL programwho can take up the role of assisting with communication among predominantly immigrant families, there is only so much information these employees can provide if they are not the child’s actual teacher.

So, that begs the question: Whose responsibility is it anyway? Should the teacher contact parents via an interpreter? Should the English-speaking child translate the information and relay it to their parents? Should the family simply learn English in order to be held accountable for their own child’s education? The answer isn’t easy. The teacher has several options for communicating with non-English speakers: translating email updates into their native tongue, requesting a virtual conference with a trusted interpreter present, translating assignments so that they can understand what the child is learning at the moment. However, without their physical presence, teachers are incredibly limited to how they can encourage participation among students and parents in general – and this especially holds true for non-English speakers.

The child then holds a great deal of responsibility in this situation. They can ensure that they’re up-to-date by constantly checking online programs like Canvas and Clever that showcase teacher announcements, assignment notifications and grades. This responsibility is heightened among children of non-English speakers because their family may not be versed in navigating English websites, particularly educational ones.

Back when I learned English in elementary school, I also learned that being responsible for my own education meant less stress for my non-English speaking parents at the time. But, looking back, there were several things that I missed out on – school trips, extracurriculars, even assignments – because the weight was on me to communicate the information to my parents (and this was before the complicated internet and educational programs came into being). And trusting a child to stay informed and engaged with limited parental involvement or knowledge is a gamble that can eventually be detrimental to the child’s education. For very young students in lower grade levels, the responsibility of accessing work and learning basic skills is almost entirely reliant on the parents, which can be incredibly difficult for non-English speakers trying to navigate an English dominated education system.

A non-English speaking parent does have the responsibility to assist in their child’s learning, but several obstacles can prevent this from happening during online learning. As parents across the country are becoming teachers themselves (and understandably struggling), how can immigrant families who are either unfamiliar with U.S. education or who may not have received an education of their own bridge the gap between online education and in-person teaching? Economically disadvantaged immigrant households are also often just struggling to survive, thus possibly lacking the necessary resources at home to see their child succeed in school. Many immigrant workers are still showing up for their jobs during the pandemic and are heavily reliant on an income to support their families, making it difficult to even keep up with communication if the teacher does attempt to reach out. Non-English speaking parents can feel an intense sense of discomfort and frustration when interacting with an English speaker, which therefore limits their communication with the teacher altogether. And these are only some possible examples of the obstacles non-English speakers face in American schools.

The solution to the problem is just as hard to address. As the country continues to figure out virtual learning during the coronavirus era, children of non-English speakers may very well fall behind. It’s easy for people to feel constantly overwhelmed during this time, and it’s very possible that schools and teachers will set aside the needs of non-English speaking families while attempting to figure out what works best for all students. As we continue to move forward with online learning for the rest of the school year, individual schools need to formulate a plan and preferably a team that will provide more resources for non-English speaking parents, such as translated educational websites, weekly follow-ups in their native language and more one-on-one virtual conferences with time flexibility, in order to boost their involvement in the educational success that they want to see for their child.

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But California Governor Gavin Newsom announced this year’s school vacation could last until Fall. 

In the Golden State, 1,039 Coronavirus cases have been confirmed and a total number of 19 deaths. In the Bay Area, around 675 cases have been identified. Last night, Governor Newsom gave a mandatory order for all Californians to self-isolate, in addition to a “shelter in place” policy that was enforced Tuesday. The policies are some of the strictest methods enforced in the U.S., asking all residents to stay inside their homes. 

In Alameda County, Oakland Unified School District said they would move to remote learning for the duration of the lockdown. Last Monday, teachers were warned they may not have classes for the remainder of the school year. 

Sylviane Cohn felt a sense of pain when she taught her last class at Joaquin Miller Elementary for the foreseeable future. 

“I miss them and I feel super useless,” said Cohn, 35. “I just feel so helpless in terms of how I am supposed to fulfill my professional obligation to make sure these kids come out knowing how to read.” 

She said she is worried about students who have difficulties learning on their own. 

“I have to figure out how to be an online educator. How I manage to reach the kids I need to reach, some of the most vulnerable students in the school,” she said. “So that learning can continue.” 

As kids struggle to begin online classes in Oakland, there is a digital divide for low-income families. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 22% of low-income households with school-aged children had no internet access, and Bay Area families making under $59,000 reported having less internet availability than wealthier families. In Bay Area public schools, inequality is a common issue. 

Joaquin Miller Elementary School, Oakland Hills, California. Photo by Joaquin Miller Elementary.

At Joaquin Miller Elementary, they are trying to decrease the gap among students.

“We have allowed families to check out Chromebooks from the school so if families don’t have a computer they can get one,” Cohn said. “We have tried to publicize that Comcast is delivering two months of free internet to families who need it.” 

But she said they can’t control family circumstances and some students will fall behind. She said there are parents who can’t afford to stay at home. 

“Between kids who have families at home who have the time and capacity to work with them and support their continuing learning, versus kids who are taking care of themselves at this time because there is no one who can support them,” she said. “There are kids who have resources at home, but then there are kids who don’t have resources and will watch TV all day. I think that is going to be the largest equity gap.” 

Zoe Lieberman experienced this disparity with her Joaquin Miller Elementary class. Lieberman, 27, began teaching online this week, but said that half of her students didn’t show up for their first class. 

Zoe Lieberman teaches 3rd-5th graders at Joaquin Miller Elementary. Photo by Joaquin Miller Elementary.

“I am happy because I did have half of my class show up to our video chats, but that is only half of my class,” she said. “How many kids are going to have access to technology? There are many different school districts and socio-economic boundaries here. These are all these things that teachers are worried about right now.”

Lieberman’s concerns are common across the nation. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio expressed distress in closing New York City’s public schools in reaction to the spread of the Coronavirus. The nation’s largest public school system serves around 750,000 low-income students, and doubles as a place for students to get meals and have access to technology. 

But public schools will be closing down this week to lessen contamination, and will switch to online learning on March 23. Teachers will be asked to come to work for training on remote education, and New York City schools are offering computers for students who need them. 

For Oakland students, Lieberman said they are trying to help by being available for support. 

“I wish there was more that we could do but I am trying to make myself available online,” she said. “Next week I am setting up office hours if anyone wants to video chat, or do a lesson.” 

She said there will be unique challenges for students beginning online education. 

“Our community is different,” Lieberman said. “A lot of our kids don’t have the ability to independently log on, and answer the questions. Some of them might not be able to read the questions. There are challenges and it’s hard to accommodate everybody.” 

Families are also worried about their children’s mental health while learning remotely.  

“This morning was the roughest morning for the kids, because it sank in that they aren’t gonna see their friends,” said Anne Hurst, 46, a mother of two. “They said they miss their friends and their teachers and they don’t want to do homeschool anymore.” 

She said that there has been emotional distress for her family while staying at home, but they are trying to remain positive. 

“They are sad right now,” she said. ““We take one day at a time, and try not to think too much about the future, because it is unknown. It feels too scary, so just focus on doing the best with what you can do today.” 

And Cohn, who may not see her K-5 classes for the rest of the school year, said that her students were equally devastated about missing their friends. 

“They seem to have a clear understanding that play dates were gonna be cancelled for the indefinite future and that was scary for them. It was both wonderful and horrible that they were devastated by the notion of not going to school. We love structure as humans, and that was taken from them.” 

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Street Squash After School Program Teaches More than a Game from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

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Public support for the education policy known as the Common Core standards has been free falling in New York State since Governor Andrew Cuomo implemented it in 2012. For Cuomo, it has become an issue in the upcoming elections.

Cuomo, a Democrat, leads his Republican opponent by 21 points, according to the latest Siena poll. But the question is what mandate he will have after the election, said Lawrence Mead, New York University professor and expert on American politics.

Teacher unions, which hold a lot of power in the Democratic Party, now oppose the Common Core. New York State United Teachers withdrew their support at the beginning of the year and asked for “major course corrections to its failed implementation plan,” in an official statement. Depending on the electoral results, Cuomo could face pressure to act on the Common Core issue.

The opposition against the education standards, a set of academic goals from kindergarten through high school, began on the Republican side but has moved to be an issue in both major parties. According to Mead, Republicans think the federal government is overstepping and prescribing what teachers should teach. Democrats feel that the policy was developed through an undemocratic process that benefits big corporations and that it has been poorly implemented, with little preparation for the teachers or students, he added.

Common Core has become a buzzword over the past month. In 2013, 62 percent of people polled nationwide had never heard about it; in 2014, 80 percent of those polled said they had heard about it, and 47 percent indicated they had heard a great deal or a fair amount, according to a PDK/Gallup poll. Opposition has increased hand in hand with awareness: five out of 10 New York State residents answered that the implementation should be stopped in New York, according to the latest Siena Poll.

Cuomo has been challenged about it multiple times during the campaign. In the Democratic Party primaries, Zephyr Teachout, professor at Fordham University, campaigned against Common Core implementation. Cuomo won the primary but still faces opposition on the Common Core, this time from his Republican opponent, Rob Astorino, who has launched a “Stop Common Core” effort to rally voters against the cause.

After many months of not taking any clear stance on the matter, the Cuomo campaign released an ad on Monday pledging to “stop using Common Core scores for at least five years, and then only if our children are ready.” The campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

The implementation of the standards

Katie Lapham, a first grade teacher at P.S. 214 in Brooklyn, says she understands the benefits of standards as a framework that gives teachers “freedom to teach and students … freedom to learn,” but she strongly opposes the Common Core standards as they are.

“Our schools need smaller class sizes, common sense curriculum, teacher-created curriculum and teacher-created authentic performance based assessments, project based, meaningful, inspiring work,” she said, adding that New York State has created fixed curricula, instead of only giving a general set of goals.
Lapham, member of the Movement of Rank and File Educators caucus within New York State United Teachers, worries that the curricula do not help her students, adding that the ReadyGEN ELA English Language Arts program is “dull and uninspiring.”

“The vocab is not appropriate for the lower grades,” Lapham said. “Spending five to seven days closely reading a picture book is boring; an ineffective way to promote literacy.” She has many English-language learners in her class and is worried that taking a test that reflects negatively on their learning will impact their confidence and increase the number of dropouts.

Garth Wolkoff, a teacher at the High School for Public Service in Brooklyn, said that a set of standards that helps the students “be more analytical thinkers rather than to memorize … can’t be bad.” He likes the idea of teachers teaching less subject matter, but more in depth, giving students more analytical skills, but he finds the standards oppressive at the elementary school level.

The standards are “asking very young students like Lucy to read and do more math,” Wolkoff said, referring to his 6-year-old daughter. “Playtime has been taken out of kindergarten, for example, and she is learning ‘Common Core’ math.”

Opting out

Parents and teachers are uniting to fight the Common Core tests. In April 2014, some teachers opted out of the test and many parents pulled their kids out of school the day of the test. Although there are no exact statistics yet, there were some 1,000 students who refused to take the math test in New York City, according to City Councilman Daniel Dromm. The Journal News reported that more than 3,000 students in the Lower Hudson Valley opted out, a fourfold increase compared with the previous year, according to the newspaper.

The MORE caucus within the teachers union is one of the most outspoken critics of the Common Core. The testing was “produced not by teachers, but by corporations,” MORE’s official statement reads. The movement argues that the standards “were written without meaningful teacher input, and educators do not have the freedom to use them as they see fit.”

Teachers and parents fear that the standards are too focused on “college and career readiness” to the detriment of “civic-mindedness, student health, and social and emotional growth,” according to the MORE statement.

Lapham said that, because of the emphasis on the tests, students “are not getting what they need both academically and emotionally.”

“If Cuomo is re-elected, expect more of the same,” Lapham added. “However, parents and teachers will continue to speak out. (The) grassroots movement is growing. Expect more and more opt-outs in the spring.”

Education standards are unlikely to be a decisive factor in the elections, but the Common Core will continue to be an issue in the political arena.

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New York City school system could soon see more school holidays from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

A new bill passed this month by the New York State Assembly will require the Department of Education to consider closing schools if a holiday is likely to result in numerous students being absent from school.

The passage of the bill comes after a push by some New York City legislators to close city public schools for the start of the Chinese New Year. Asians make up over 10 percent of the student population in the NYC school system and schools in Chinatown typically have very low attendance rates on the first day of the Chinese celebration.

“We should consider other cultures’ celebration of the New Year,” said Suiling Tsang, a parent at PS 124, whose child didn’t attend school on the start of the New Year.

“I think the typical example is the Jewish New Year. We celebrate the Jewish New Year so why can’t other cultures?”

Mayor Bill De Blasio recently said he supports creating a holiday for the Chinese and Lunar New Year. De Blasio also campaigned on creating school holidays for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, which are two Muslim celebrations.

“It will take time. It’s complicated in terms of logistics and school calendar and budget. It’s something I want to get done in a reasonable time frame,” said De Blasio in a recent interview on WNYC.

Adding three holidays to the school calendar could pose a problem for the school system. Schools are required to be in session for 180 days and the city currently only offers 181 instructional days. The school system does offer a 183 days calendar for high schools.

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It’s not quite an art gallery, not quite a language school, and not quite a music venue.

But El Taller Latino-Americano is a little bit of all those things, and most of all it has become a cultural institution on the Upper West Side over the last two decades. With rising rents, it’s about to be driven out of the area.

“Despite the fact that we are a not-for-profit educational organization, the rent which we engage in with the landlord is commercial,” said Bernardo Palombo, a founder of El Taller.

It’s expected to rise from $8000to $22,000 per month next year.

“What for us is human space is for others mathematics and numbers,” said Palombo.

This is not the first time Manhattan’s property market has forced them to move.

El Taller: language, culture and community on 104th Street from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

They started out on 19th Street and 7th Avenue almost 35 years ago, before moving a little further uptown, then across to the basement of a Russian cathedral in the Lower East Side. They’ve been in their current space on 104th Street and Broadway for the last 22 years.

“Now we are here, and probably next year we will be in Canada, because the whole history of gentrification pushes people to el norte, so we are going to el norte again,” said Palombo.

He has a plan for El Taller – to develop an urban garden, community kitchen, centre for immigrants’ rights and a three-penny university – if he can find a way to stay in the building.

The three-penny university would include workshops from current and former Columbia University professors and community members.

“Dona Maria, a Puerto Rican woman who lives next to my house, will teach handy 22 point crochet,” said Palombo, “And the younger characters that are selling drugs in the avenue will teach texting to the old farts like me.”

El Taller has submitted the proposal to two different arts foundations, suggesting they buy the building and help expand the organization.

But if the rent rises as expected, it is likely Palombo and El Taller will have to find a new home for these big ideas to unfold.

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Emanuel Rivera, 5, of the Mott Haven Academy Charter School shows off a goodie bag of school supplies. The back to school event provided low-income and foster care students with necessities for their first year in school. Photo by Timothy Weisberg.

Emanuel Rivera, 5, opened up a duffel bag filled with school and art supplies and toys. Ecstatic about his newly prized possessions, which included markers, pencils, stickers, and a Thomas the Tank kazoo, Rivera of the South Bronx, was starting school for the first time.

“I get to take these home,” said Rivera while trying on a red beanie.

Kindergartners like Rivera at the Mott Haven Charter School Academy received items donated by the My Stuff Bags Foundation and the Toy Industry Foundation as an event for students starting school for the first time.

Founded in 2008, the Mott Haven Charter School Academy in the South Bronx serves approximately 255 students from kindergarten through fifth grade currently in the foster care and child welfare system. The school maintains a partnership with the New York Foundling, one of New York’s oldest and largest child welfare service agencies.

“We have some students and some families that struggle,” said Jessica Nauiokas, the school’s principal and founder. “The purpose of this school is to make sure that even if there is some chaos or struggles at home that academics don’t get ignored.”

According to Nauiokas, students are enrolled at the school through a lottery system, which enables the school to give priority to students in the child welfare system. Two-thirds of the students are in the child welfare or foster care system, while the rest come from the South Bronx community.

The school also emphasizes parent participation, offering evening workshops for parents covering anything from parenting classes and how to get involved to English language improvement and literacy building, according to the school website.

Marisa Medina, the Foundation Manager for the Toy Industry Foundation, said that the foundation does not typically host on-site events, and rather ships out items like toiletries, school supplies and clothing to care agencies throughout the city.

“It’s a special occasion,” said Medina. “For these kindergartners, it’s their first time in school. We want to make sure that they start it on a fun note and that they have what they need to get their school career going.”

This is the fourth year the My Stuff Bags Foundation–which provides the duffel bags filled with items the students need–and the Toy Industry Foundation have sponsored the event.

Alan Shatz has been the Director of Community Relations and Volunteer Services at New York Foundling for 13 years, and does not see the back-to-school kindergartner event going away anytime soon.

“It’s a wonderful way to engage and welcome our new kindergartners, and especially to hopefully engage the families,” said Shatz. “The kids go home and they show their parents and say, ‘Look what I got at school.’ Success at school has a lot to do with the home life.”

And next month, the kindergartners will receive another surprise: winter clothes.

“If we have a winter like last year, they won’t need any of it,” Shatz said.

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Eva Reed, 42, attended class at Mercy Education Project on Oct. 13. Reed began the Pace Program in 2009 and will receive her GED in November. When Reed started the program she was reading at 4th grade level. The illiteracy rate in Detroit is 47%. Photo by Jessica Bell

Eva Reed dropped out of high school when she was in ninth grade. She was unmotivated, with teachers who seemed to not care about her success. Her sister had just been killed and her mother needed help raising her seven children. Nearly 30 years later Reed, 42, is attending Mercy Education Project’s Pace program taking classes to improve her reading and math skills.

“I never got a chance,” Reed said of her high school experience. “I was always trying to get help to the point where I was crying but I never got the help I needed.”

Mercy Education Project has been operating in Southwest Detroit for 19 years. They provide a variety of GED preparation classes to women and most students arrive reading at a fifth grade level or below. Reed knew something was wrong when her seven children started surpassing her educationally.

“It was my third oldest daughter, when she was in school and I couldn’t help her with her homework, that’s when I realized I needed help,” she said.

Reed is like 47 percent of Detroiters, who are considered functionally illiterate. While there are several organizations around the city working to bring this number down, the city is still in such financial straits that the education system has been deteriorating for several years. It was recently announced that the city has to close six branches of the Detroit Public Library.

Amy Amador, the executive director at Mercy Education Project, says the deterioration of the education system in Detroit is partially to blame for such a high illiteracy rate.

“Our schools have been in turmoil for years,” she said. “We have had a history of once kids get to high school, we’re just waiting for the ones who are going to drop out and focusing on the ones who stay in. There are a lot of efforts to make changes, but we aren’t there yet.”

Detroit had the their highest graduation rate since 2007 last year with 62 percent of high school students graduating within four years. But, that still leaves 38 percent of young Detroiters without the basic skills they need to find work. The system has faced large deficits and announced a budget cut of $230 million this summer.

Detroit Public Schools is not the only local department facing serious cuts. With the library being forced to close six of its 23 branches at the end of the month, residents have risen up to try and save them. They are writing letters to the Library Commission and picketing outside their local branches.

G. Peggy Noble, the Fenmore Block Club president responsible for protesting outside the city’s main library to save the Chase Branch, said she and her community understood the cultural and educational importance of keeping libraries open for the children.

“We really didn’t want the library to close, but then when you look into the eyes of the children here, we knew had to do something,” Noble said.

Donald Bailey III, 13, said he and his friends come to Chase everyday to do their homework in a quiet and peaceful environment and stay safe after school.

Donald Bailey III, 13, (right) said he and his friends use the Chase Branch of the Detroit Public Library everyday after school and on Saturdays. He doesn't have internet access at home and says he is able to concentrate on his homework better at the library than at home or school. Photo by Jessica Bell

“If [the library] wasn’t here we would probably just be out on the street robbing and doing crimes and stuff like that, that we shouldn’t,” he said. “But while we’re here this is stopping us from doing that.”

At the Chandler Park Branch, another on the brink of closure, Barbara Thomas holds meetings for her non-profit organization Believe in Detroit Just for Girls, a math and literacy enrichment program for girls ages five through ten. Thomas volunteers at a nearby school and brings the girls in her program to the library for three hours every Saturday to read and check out books.

“I was startled,” Thomas said of the closures. “The first thing I thought was what am I going to do with my girls.”

Illiteracy can be passed on from one generation to the next and certainly the threat of losing libraries hasn’t gone unnoticed as a serious issue by literacy advocates in the city.

“It’s unfortunate when libraries close because that’s quality of life,” Margaret Thorpe Williamson, the executive director of Pro-Literacy Detroit said. “They are repositories of information so it’s important for young people and all people to have access.”

While the Detroit Public Library declined comment, Detroit City Councilman James Tate said that the city has struggled to make headway on the illiteracy issue, one that he championed while campaigning in 2009, and that hearing about libraries closing is painful.

“It’s important that we do what we can to support our educational institutes and our cultural institutes and that includes our libraries,” Tate said.

Tate said the challenge Detroit is facing is changing the collective mentality on education. He said that because the city relied so heavily on the auto industry that kept them comfortable for decades Detroiters never put a heavy emphasis on higher education.

“The problem that we’ve had over time is that many of our families didn’t really emphasize higher education and that unfortunately led to not valuing education as a whole,” he said. “And that’s what we’re trying to fight.”

Susie Schechter is the executive director of Reading Works, a new collaborative between several literacy organizations including Mercy Education Project that is going to be used as an awareness and fundraising platform. She said the blame cannot be placed on Detroit’s current education system alone. Historically, Detroiters did not necessarily need basic educational skills to get by.

“People could come to Detroit and work on the line and make a great living and you could get away without having high literacy skills,” she said. “The auto industry is always going to be a huge part of who we are. But if we want to move into the direction we are poised to move into we need to have a workforce that has a higher skill set.”

Moving the city into a new direction is why Reading Works brought together nine of the longest running and successful literacy organizations in the city together. Their main objective is to bring everyone together to talk about challenges and brainstorm ways around them.

“Certainly, we’re facing up to the problem,” Schechter said. “We’re not denying that it exists anymore. We’re trying to handle the crisis.”

For people like Reed, the Mercy Education Project student, gaining the courage to admit she needed help and finally getting it has been a liberating experience. When she first came to Mercy in 2009, she read at a fourth grade level, now she has passed three out of five parts of her Graduation Equivalency Diploma exam.

Reed knows other people with similar reading and educational struggles as herself and encourages them to let go of their pride and look at her as an example.

“I never thought I would be where I’m at today,” Reed said. “I always looked down on myself and I never thought I could do anything, but once I got here and just the love, the peace, the people here, it’s a blessing.”

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