How to fix Michigan’s literacy crisis? Start with poverty and housing solutions, experts say
Did you know search engines like Google are changing the way you see news? Keep Chalkbeat’s valuable education coverage at the top of your feeds by clicking here and checking the box next to our name. Trenten longs for the days when he lived together with his whole family. For the past six months, Trenten and his older sister have stayed with close friends while his mother lives elsewhere as she…
Michigan's literacy crisis, according to experts, can be tackled by addressing poverty and housing instability issues. Trenten Long, a 12-year-old with dyslexia, has struggled with his schoolwork and confidence since his mother moved out to find suitable housing for them. He now lives with close friends, causing his reading and math abilities to suffer.
Across the state, there are over 710,000 economically disadvantaged students, and nearly 36,600 experienced homelessness last school year. Homeless students graduate at a rate 20 percentage points lower than all students, and about 7% of them drop out. Experts believe that poverty is a policy choice and that it affects children's education negatively.
Candidates for Michigan governor, Jocelyn Benson and John James, have plans to improve education but do not include addressing poverty. To overcome these barriers, experts recommend tackling living conditions, food insecurity, healthcare access, and education equity. In Detroit, a nonprofit called 482Forward assists families dealing with homelessness and other issues, helping them find new schools with no transcripts.
For Trenten, attending a new school has been challenging, and his grades have not improved significantly.
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