cashinmattress Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Link According to a new report, 47 percent of Detroiters are ”functionally illiterate.” The alarming new statistics were released by the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund on Wednesday.WWJ Newsradio 950 spoke with the Fund’s Director, Karen Tyler-Ruiz, who explained exactly what this means. “Not able to fill out basic forms, for getting a job — those types of basic everyday (things). Reading a prescription; what’s on the bottle, how many you should take… just your basic everyday tasks,” she said. “I don’t really know how they get by, but they do. Are they getting by well? Well, that’s another question,” Tyler-Ruiz said. Some of the Detroit suburbs also have high numbers of functionally illiterate: 34 percent in Pontiac and 24 percent in Southfield. “For other major urban areas, we are a little bit on the high side… We compare, slightly higher, to Washington D.C.’s urban population, in certain ZIP codes in Washington D.C. and in Cleveland,” she said. Tyler-Ruiz said only 10 percent of those who can’t read have gotten any help to resolve it. So, Detroit's standing in world literacy is right between Togo and Bhutan! Shocking. Way to go America! Ford always said, quality is job #1. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MongerOfDoom Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Link So, Detroit's standing in world literacy is right between Togo and Bhutan! Shocking. Way to go America! Ford always said, quality is job #1. This says 99% of the over 15s in the US can read and write, though that presumably does not imply they can comprehend what they read. I suspect both statistics are nonsense :-) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nmarks Report post Posted May 5, 2011 So, Detroit's standing in world literacy is right between Togo and Bhutan! With the culture of gangster rap, guns, hard rock, bikers, militarism, gambling, drugs and porn so endemic in US culture this kind of outcome is only to be expected. The inmates have taken over the asylum. So little of the culture that comes out of the US is geared towards genuine impartial intellectual stimuli. Even the likes of Discovery Channel is red-neck TV masquerading as education. The US excels at so much yet gets it so horrendously wrong elsewhere. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nationalist Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Is it 'cos I is black? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ruffneck Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Place is full of blacks and middle eastern immigrants stuck in a cycle of poverty. Burn the whole place down and start from scratch. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Realistbear Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Nottingham has a 43% literacy rate which is sad. Detroit has been in decline since the 1970's and is populated by very poor people who cannot afford to move. Contrast Detroit with Orange County in Californina and you will see that the US has pockets of illiteracy and larger pockets of highly educated productive people. Detroit is often the focus of anti-American ism as it represents the extreme of decline. Much like Nottingham would be the extreme in this country. My guess is that few, if any, US news articles focus on Nottingham as being representative of the UK as a whole. Overall, we are about the same as the US but you could single out places like Detroit and compare them with Guidlford in Surrey and be shocked I suppose: Adult literacy rate (% aged 15 and above) . Afghanistan 28.0 . Albania 99.0 . Algeria 74.6 . Andorra .. . Angola 67.4 . Antigua and Barbuda 85.8 . Argentina 97.6 . Armenia 99.5 . Australia 99 . Austria 99 . Azerbaijan 99.3 . Bahamas .. . Bahrain 88.3 . Bangladesh 52.5 . Barbados 99 . Belarus 99.7 . Belgium 99 . Belize 75.1 . Benin 39.7 . Bhutan 54.3 . Bolivia 89.8 . Bosnia and Herzegovina 96.7 . Botswana 82.1 . Brazil 89.6 . Brunei Darussalam 94.6 . Bulgaria 98.3 . Burkina Faso 26.0 . Burundi 59.3 . Cambodia 75.6 . Cameroon 67.9 . Canada 99.00 . Cape Verde 83.0 . Central African Republic 48.6 . Chad 25.7 . Chile 96.4 . China 93.0 . Colombia 92.3 . Comoros 74.2 . Congo 86.0 . Congo (Democratic Republic of the) 67.2 . Costa Rica 95.8 . Côte d'Ivoire 48.7 . Croatia 98.6 . Cuba 99.8 . Cyprus 97.6 . Czech Republic 99 . Denmark 99 . Djibouti .. . Dominica 88.0 . Dominican Republic 88.8 . Ecuador 92.4 . Egypt 71.4 . El Salvador 83.6 . Equatorial Guinea 87.0 . Eritrea .. . Estonia 99.8 . Ethiopia 35.9 . Fiji .. . Finland 99 . France 99 . Gabon 85.4 . Gambia .. . Georgia 99.00 . Germany 99 . Ghana 64.2 . Greece 97.0 . Grenada .. . Guatemala 72.5 . Guinea 29.5 . Guinea-Bissau 62.8 . Guyana .. . Haiti 61.0 . Honduras 82.6 . Hong Kong, China (SAR) .. . Hungary 98.9 . Iceland 99 . India 65.2 . Indonesia 91.0 . Iran (Islamic Republic of) 84.0 . Iraq 74.1 . Ireland 99 . Israel 97.1 . Italy 98.8 . Jamaica 85.5 . Japan 99 . Jordan 92.7 . Kazakhstan 99.6 . Kenya 73.6 . Kiribati .. . Korea (Democratic People's Rep. of) .. . Korea (Republic of) 99 . Kuwait 93.3 . Kyrgyzstan 99.3 . Lao People's Democratic Republic 72.5 . Latvia 99.8 . Lebanon .. . Lesotho 82.2 . Liberia 54.4 . Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 86.2 . Liechtenstein 99 . Lithuania 99.7 . Luxembourg 99 . Macedonia (TFYR) 96.8 . Madagascar 70.7 . Malawi 70.9 . Malaysia 91.5 . Maldives 97.0 . Mali 22.9 . Malta 91.4 . Marshall Islands .. . Mauritania 55.2 . Mauritius 87.0 . Mexico 91.7 . Micronesia (Federated States of) .. . Moldova 99.2 . Monaco 99 . Mongolia 97.4 . Montenegro 96.4 . Morocco 54.7 . Mozambique 43.8 . Myanmar 89.9 . Namibia 87.6 . Nauru .. . Nepal 55.2 . Netherlands 99 . New Zealand 99 . Nicaragua 80.1 . Niger 29.8 . Nigeria 71.0 . Norway 99 . Occupied Palestinian Territories 92.4 . Oman 83.7 . Pakistan 54.2 . Palau .. . Panama 93.2 . Papua New Guinea 57.3 . Paraguay 93.6 . Peru 88.7 . Philippines 93.3 . Poland 99.3 . Portugal 94.6 . Qatar 89.8 . Romania 97.6 . Russian Federation 99.5 . Rwanda 64.9 . Saint Kitts and Nevis 97.8 . Saint Lucia 94.8 . Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 88.1 . Samoa 98.7 . San Marino 99 . Sao Tome and Principe 87.5 . Saudi Arabia 84.3 . Senegal 42.0 . Serbia 96.4 . Seychelles 91.8 . Sierra Leone 37.1 . Singapore 94.2 . Slovakia 99 . Slovenia 99.7 . Solomon Islands 76.6 . Somalia .. . South Africa 87.6 . Spain 97.4 . Sri Lanka 90.8 . Sudan 60.9 . Suriname 90.1 . Swaziland 79.6 . Sweden 99 . Switzerland 99 . Syrian Arab Republic 82.5 . Tajikistan 99.6 . Tanzania (United Republic of) 72.0 . Thailand 93.9 . Timor-Leste 50.1 . Togo 53.2 . Tonga 99.2 . Trinidad and Tobago 98.6 . Tunisia 76.9 . Turkey 88.1 . Turkmenistan 99.5 . Tuvalu .. . Uganda 72.6 . Ukraine 99.7 . United Arab Emirates 89.8 . United Kingdom 99 . United States 99 . Uruguay 97.8 . Uzbekistan 96.9 . Vanuatu 77.3 . Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 93.0 . Viet Nam 90.3 . Yemen 57.3 . Zambia 68.0 . Zimbabwe 90.7 . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MC Fur Q Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Place is full of blacks and middle eastern immigrants stuck in a cycle of poverty. Burn the whole place down and start from scratch. How is that going to teach them to read or give them a job? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paddles Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Not wishing to rubbish the statistics on the previous (overly lengthy) post, but there's no way that Australia has a 99% adult literacy rate. Linky Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Austin Allegro Report post Posted May 5, 2011 I suspect this 'functional illiteracy' is a moving goalpost. This will sound cynical, but presumably most of them are literate enough to sort out their welfare payments? The report will be used to provide better training for local workers I.e, the report will be used to justify more taxpayers' money being spent on literacy programmes providing work for the public sector/NGOs. Surely they should be asking why, in a country with compulsory, 'free' education, so many cannot read in the first place? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yellerkat Report post Posted May 5, 2011 I suspect this 'functional illiteracy' is a moving goalpost. It seems to be anything between recognising the letter "A" and settling down to enjoy Tolstoy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jadoube Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Nottingham has a 43% literacy rate which is sad. Detroit has been in decline since the 1970's and is populated by very poor people who cannot afford to move. Contrast Detroit with Orange County in Californina and you will see that the US has pockets of illiteracy and larger pockets of highly educated productive people. Detroit is often the focus of anti-American ism as it represents the extreme of decline. Much like Nottingham would be the extreme in this country. My guess is that few, if any, US news articles focus on Nottingham as being representative of the UK as a whole. Overall, we are about the same as the US but you could single out places like Detroit and compare them with Guidlford in Surrey and be shocked I suppose: +1 All this report is saying is that in neighbourhoods where the population has few or no educational qualifications you find a high rate of illteracy. And wow, what a surprise, if you focus within such an area on the parts with the worst levels of educational qualifications you find even higher rates of illiteracy. By picking a suitable (small) neighbourhood you could produce similar distorted headlines for many parts of the UK. Consider - is the 'City of London' the same thing as London? Or are people in the city rather different from Londoners as a whole? Never mind being different from British people as a whole. According to Wikipedia "In 2010, the city had a population of 713,777 and ranked as the 18th most populous city in the United States" Some other data on Detroit link Population declined by 25% in the past decade. (USA as a whole - growth of 9%) Population aged under 18 31% (USA as a whole 24%) Population white 12% (USA as a whole 80%) Detroit is a shrinking city with a very skewed population structure and ethnic mix. An exceptionally high proportion of children, and low level of pensioners. (High birth rate, low life expectancy) Very low proportion of kids finishing high school, very low proportion of people achieving a degree. Average income about 40% lower than the national average. Find somewhere like that in the UK, and see if we're surprised at the literacy rate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Injin Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Nottingham has a 43% literacy rate which is sad. Detroit has been in decline since the 1970's and is populated by very poor people who cannot afford to move. Contrast Detroit with Orange County in Californina and you will see that the US has pockets of illiteracy and larger pockets of highly educated productive people. Detroit is often the focus of anti-American ism as it represents the extreme of decline. Much like Nottingham would be the extreme in this country. My guess is that few, if any, US news articles focus on Nottingham as being representative of the UK as a whole. Overall, we are about the same as the US but you could single out places like Detroit and compare them with Guidlford in Surrey and be shocked I suppose: Adult literacy rate (% aged 15 and above) snip . Tl:DR Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ruffneck Report post Posted May 5, 2011 How is that going to teach them to read or give them a job? They're no hopers , no point wasting cash on them. They don't give a ******. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Executive Sadman Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Obviously it must be those nasty conservatives in charge. Wait, no Detroit is a socialist democratic city and has been in all living memory. Obviously the teachers arent paid well enough http://www.mackinac.org/12781 http://www.mackinac.org/10743 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Public_Schools#Finances Median compensation for a DPS teacher is $76,000 and Detroit spends the third highest amount of money per student among 76 large cities nationwide. The 2008-2009 edition of the Michigan Department of Education's ranking of Michigan Public School financial data showed the mean Detroit Public School teacher's salary stood at $71,031, more than 14% higher than the state average of $62,237[26]. During the same period, the Michigan cohort graduation rate was 80.1%, while Detroit Public Schools' cohort graduation rate was 67.39%, 16% lower than the state average[27]. No, thats not it. Well, i guess the infrastructure must be starved of funds. Nope, 12 highest expenditure out of 50 states in Michigan alone, underperforming Detroit probably recieves far more. http://www.ppinys.org/reports/jtf/educationspending.htm Socialism at work, friends. I guess liebour was wrong, throw more money at a problem and it doesnt just go away. $70k a year would buy a mansion in parts of Detroit too. Although i admit even for $70k i probably wouldnt dodge bullets teach there Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Executive Sadman Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Place is full of blacks and middle eastern immigrants stuck in a cycle of poverty. Burn the whole place down and start from scratch. Thats what theyve been doing for the last 50 years! Guess theyre too lazy to even do that properly/quickly! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Masked Tulip Report post Posted May 5, 2011 I find it very sad. I am so grateful that I had wonderful parents and wonderful parents that taught me to read, that I grew up in a country and a time when so much emphasis was put on such basic education. I have a real thirst for knowledge and you share the human experience via reading other people's thoughts - yes, even on here also. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tim123 Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Link So, Detroit's standing in world literacy is right between Togo and Bhutan! Shocking. Way to go America! Ford always said, quality is job #1. Are you really sure that this equates to "can't read". The PC brigade have invented this new term "functionally illiterate" to increase the numbers. It doesn't mean "can't read". It means "didn't pass any high school exams". tim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tankus Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Nottingham has a 43% literacy rate which is sad. Detroit has been in decline since the 1970's and is populated by very poor people who cannot afford to move. Contrast Detroit with Orange County in Californina and you will see that the US has pockets of illiteracy and larger pockets of highly educated productive people. Detroit is often the focus of anti-American ism as it represents the extreme of decline. Much like Nottingham would be the extreme in this country. My guess is that few, if any, US news articles focus on Nottingham as being representative of the UK as a whole. Overall, we are about the same as the US but you could single out places like Detroit and compare them with Guidlford in Surrey and be shocked I suppose: Adult literacy rate (% aged 15 and above) snip . Will this thread run to more pages than the fukushima one ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ruffneck Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Will this thread run to more pages than the fukushima one ? Probably not - Japan is relevant , Detroit isn't. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ccc Report post Posted May 5, 2011 Nearly Half Of HPC'ers Can’T Write Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darkman Report post Posted May 6, 2011 Is it 'cos I is black? It gets a little tiresome hearing the anti-American lines being rolled out so regularly, when the sad reality is that most of the negatives are down to a small section of the population. It's not actually "America" at fault, it's a specific minority spoiling it for the majority. Of course, I am not allowed to say that. So I hereby deny saying it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
payback period Report post Posted May 6, 2011 Half of Detroiters can't read? On the upside, we're free to write what the hell we like about them because they won't be complaining Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mrs Bear Report post Posted May 7, 2011 Are you really sure that this equates to "can't read". The PC brigade have invented this new term "functionally illiterate" to increase the numbers. It doesn't mean "can't read". It means "didn't pass any high school exams". tim I thought it meant people who might be able to read a bit, but not with any degree of fluency. I was once sent on an adult literacy course. One of the exercises involved reading a text, about half a page of A4, printed in mirror image. At the end we were asked questions on it. What nearly all of us found was that since we'd concentrated on working out individual words, we hadn't taken in much of the sense of the piece, if any. We were given this to demonstrate what poor readers go through, to a greater or less extent, every day. I have to say it was very illuminating. There was also a lot about the strategies people use to cope with a lack of literacy, so that very often hardly anybody ever finds out. Because they're so ashamed of it, they sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to cover it up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drainman Report post Posted May 7, 2011 This says 99% of the over 15s in the US can read and write, though that presumably does not imply they can comprehend what they read. I suspect both statistics are nonsense :-) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html good ! they can,t a map and come here for benefits Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SarahBell Report post Posted May 8, 2011 Place is full of blacks and middle eastern immigrants stuck in a cycle of poverty. Burn the whole place down and start from scratch. As council regeneration schemes in the UK have shown you can re-model the area but if you put the same people back in the problems still exist. Or did you mean burn it down with the people still there? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
