An estimated 3.8 million Los Angeles County adult
can barely read, write or speak English. "I can't move up in my job,"
she said in Spanish. A new extensive report on literacy problems in the
Los Angeles area was released yesterday. The study was launched
in June 2003 by Mayor James K. Hahn and conducted by United Way with
more than 100 private and public organizations participating. It
produced some grim findings, such as, Fifty-three percent of
working-age Los Angeles County residents have trouble reading street
signs or bus schedules, filling out job applications in English or
understanding a utility bill. The national average is 48%, according to
the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey. Educated immigrants who have
not yet learned English, immigrants who are not literate in their
native tongue and English-speaking high school dropouts contribute to
the area's workforce literacy problems, according to the report
released during a meeting at USC. They form an underclass of workers
stuck in low-paying jobs, while employers cannot find enough workers to
perform increasingly complex tasks. [more ]
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