Educators will tell you that from early childhood to third grade children learn to read and from fourth grade on they read to learn. The trouble is too few students in Idaho reach the fourth grade ready to read.

That deficiency makes them more likely to drop-out of school, fail to go on to post-secondary education and get stuck in low-wage jobs. The sad truth is that some states even predict their future prison needs by how many third grade students can’t read. IBE believes that every child has a right to read and that it is the responsibility of all the adults in their lives to make sure they do.