YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. — If you can read this, count your blessings.
One in 6 Georgia adults have low literacy skills, according to a 2017 Deloitte report. The researchers further found those adults cost Georgia about $1.26 billion per year, with most of that, $818 million, in paying for people in prison. One survey ranked Georgia as No. 42 in the nation with a literacy rate of 76.4%.
And the results of the spring 2023 Georgia Milestones tests suggest some children are having difficulty reading as well. More than a third of Georgia third graders — 34.1% — are reading below grade level.
Georgia Milestones measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted content standards in English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies, according to the state Department of Education.
The department points to pandemic learning loss as exacerbating Georgia’s low literacy rates. According to a department presentation, 42% of third graders were rated proficient readers or above in their 2019 Milestones test. That number dropped to 36% in 2021, but rose to 39% this year, still below the pre-pandemic level.