•	Students in California rank among the lowest in the nation in reading skills

•	Nearly one-third of California's 5 million school-age children do not speak English as their native language.

•	In Southern California, two out of three third graders are reading below the national average.

•	The national average of books per child in school libraries is 25; in California it is only 12.

•	Research shows that children who fail to learn to read by age 9 cannot do well in other subjects and rarely catch up.

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