More than half of Philadelphia's working-age adults read at or below a fifth-grade level, according to a city presentation, a gap that quietly shapes careers, paychecks and even family history for thousands of residents. Dorrie Miller-Abdul-Rahim knows that firsthand — the 57-year-old Philadelphian dropped out in the 10th grade after falling behind in the city's school system, and it wasn't until she recently sharpened her reading skills that she finally learned the truth about her father.
According to Axios, Miller-Abdul-Rahim enrolled in Beyond Literacy's adult education program after her own children graduated from high school. Growing up, she said her mother repeatedly told her and her brother that their father had died overseas, a story that only unraveled once her stronger reading skills opened up new conversations and sources of information. She now reads books, follows the news and holds conversations she once couldn't, and is weighing whether to take college courses or find a part-time job.
A 'Hidden Crisis' Behind Careers and Waiting Lists
Advocates describe adult illiteracy in Philadelphia as a hidden crisis, one that affects not just job prospects but everyday, meaningful moments most residents take for granted, the outlet's reporting notes. Cynthia Figueroa said many adults feel like they are swimming against the tide until they get help. Low literacy skills can mean struggling to read a job posting, or even to tell whether a scheduled work shift falls during the day or at night.
Combined, Philadelphia's adult education programs served nearly 3,000 residents last year, per a Philadelphia coalition cited in the same report — even as thousands more residents sat on waiting lists for a program slot. Dawn Hannah said the adult education system has not been overcome, while Molly Friedland said Philadelphia has an opportunity gap rather than an inability gap.
State Dollars Are a Fraction of What K-12 Schools Get
Pennsylvania directs about $17 million a year to adult education, Axios reports, much of it funneled through Title II of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act — which provides roughly $15 million annually to the state, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The same state testimony put Beyond Literacy's annual reach at about 2,000 working-age adults, a small share of the citywide need. That public investment is a sliver of the nearly $12 billion Pennsylvania spends on K-12 public education every year.
Still, the payoff for adults who complete a program is real: Pennsylvania's adult education graduates collectively earned $182 million in 2023, and those who earn a high school equivalency make about $6,700 more a year than those who don't. Advocates say adult education programs are left competing for scarce dollars as a result.
New Money for Young Readers, an Old Gap for Adults
Pennsylvania lawmakers enacted a $10 million early literacy budget allocation in July to fund standardized K-3 reading screenings, teacher training and evidence-based instruction across public school districts, according to the Pennsylvania Literacy Coalition. The investment comes as Philadelphia's own reading pipeline has struggled: third-grade state reading proficiency scores in the city's public schools fell during the 2024-2025 school year despite the district spending $25 million on a new science-of-reading curriculum, leaving fewer than 1 in 3 third graders proficient, according to Chalkbeat.
Poverty, unstable housing and struggling schools can leave students falling behind long before the problem is ever identified. A caregiver's own reading level is the single strongest predictor of a child's academic success, and children of parents without a high school diploma are four times more likely to drop out themselves, according to an analysis from the XPRIZE Foundation. That helps explain why children of parents who struggle to read often inherit the same difficulties.
The National Price Tag — and Who's Stepping In
The stakes reach well beyond Philadelphia. Nearly 20% of working-age Pennsylvanians lack basic literacy or numeracy skills, and the state has only 77 qualified workers available for every 100 open jobs, according to data cited by PennWatch. Pennsylvania adults who read at a sixth-grade level earn an average of $63,000 annually, compared with $34,000 for those who read below that level, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Nationally, a study by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and Gallup estimated that bringing all U.S. adults to at least a sixth-grade reading level could add $2.2 trillion annually to the economy, per Nemours Children's Health.
Some relief has come from private philanthropy. In March 2024, billionaire MacKenzie Scott's Yield Giving awarded Beyond Literacy a $2 million grant — the largest single donation in the nonprofit's history — according to CBS News. Philadelphia has previously rallied around its adult learners, too, including at an annual celebration honoring adult learners citywide that recognized Beyond Literacy alongside the Northeast Learning Center and Temple University's Lenfest Center. For now, though, advocates say the waiting lists — and the gap between opportunity and outcome — remain.
