When a child can’t read, their chances of incarceration, homelessness, and unemployment increase. That’s why Oakland-based NAACP activist Kareem Weaver believes literacy is one of the greatest civil rights issues of our time and is fighting for better reading instruction. “What good is winning the right to vote if we can’t even read the ballot?” Fed up with the bleak reading scores in his own community, Kareem files a petition with the Oakland Unified School District demanding change.
Press
EdSurge Podcast
“…Failing efforts to teach reading disproportionately impact children of color.
It’s a call to arms, a call to action. I’m hoping that people connect to the subject matter enough to turn off the TV for a second, to turn off the football, the basketball, the March Madness, and let’s see about our kids. I’m hoping that there can be a collective refocus on our children.”
Jeffrey R. Young
The Hollywood Reporter
“It’s a jaw-dropping indictment on the historical and present failings of the country’s educational and political leadership. But it’s also a passionate call to action to remove the hold that the educational theory of whole language literacy has had on American education for a century.”
Abbey White
Festival Participation
