In the past 20 years, New Mexico’s woeful literacy rates have not improved.
And so 3 out of every 4 New Mexico third graders still cannot read at grade level. Fast forward 10 years and as those third graders grow up, understand that nearly 1 out of every 3 New Mexico adults reads at the level of a 5- to 7-year-old.
That’s kindergarten to second grade. Only Louisiana has a worse literacy rate. And we wonder why our state struggles with attracting high-paying jobs, with poverty and crime, poor health, homelessness and substance abuse. Low literacy rates are a root cause of many of the problems that plague New Mexico.