ATLANTA — We are just days awayfour times from lawmakers returning to the State Capitol for the legislative session, and one of the things House Speaker Jon Burns wants to tackle is how to improve literacy with Georgia’s children.
Currently, two-thirds of Georgia’s third graders cannot read proficiently. Reading at a third-grade level is the No. 1 indicator of high school graduation.
Students who cannot read at that level are four times more likely to drop out of school and experience long-term behavioral issues.
Dayle Burns is the wife of House Speaker Jon Burns, and she admits she gives him a nudge every now and again, especially when it comes to literacy among Georgia children.
She was a schoolteacher and principal for 30 years, so it’s near and dear to her heart.
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“It bothers me that Georgia needs to do better with literacy. We have a crisis. Our children are not reading at the level that they should and could,” Dayle Burns said.
Mrs. Burns told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot that stats show only 30% of Georgia school children are reading at grade level by the time they reach the fourth grade.
She says the state, and most importantly, parents and friends, need to understand that literacy has to start before children go into kindergarten -- really from birth to age 5.
“It starts then, and we need parents and communities to help us get children ready for kindergarten. That’s going to be a big key to making a big difference in our literacy rates,” Dayle Burns said.
Her husband, the House Speaker, remains committed to making schools across Georgia safe, but also to finding ways to help raise the literacy rates here.
“It’s about literacy. It’s about our future, Georgia’s future, our young people and the issues we have there,” House Speaker Jon Burns said.
The General Assembly goes into session on Jan. 12.
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