Guest Commentary

Boosting Philly Students’ Financial IQ

Next fall, a new law will mandate personal finance education in all PA high schools. Whether Philadelphia schools will be ready is up to us

By Kerry Woodward

Can We Get a PA Miracle for Literacy?

More than half of adult Philadelphians struggle to read. A year-old literacy coalition is calling for a statewide commitment to a teaching method that has worked in Mississippi and elsewhere

By Dr. James Peterson
Guest Commentary

We’re Angry About Literacy Rates Too

Read by 4th responds to The Citizen’s critique of the city’s efforts to get kids reading

By Julia Cadwallender
Guest Commentary

Literacy is Different in the Digital Era

In 2025, adults need to know more than just reading and writing. The CEO of Philadelphia’s largest adult education nonprofit argues for a new definition of literate

By Kimmell Joslin Proctor
Ideas We Should Steal

Break — Then Fix — the School District

Hurricane Katrina pushed New Orleans to completely upend how it educates its children. Twenty years later its success is off the charts. Finally, folks are talking about it.

By Ravi Gupta

A Bridge to Literacy

Only 17 percent of fourth graders read at grade level in Philadelphia. A Fairhill parent literary assistant program is slowly improving that — and providing a much-needed community resource

By Rachel Wisniewski

The Cursive Comeback

The PA House has voted to reinstate the teaching of old-fashioned penmanship in public schools. In the age of AI, is this the answer to our literacy crisis?

By Dr. James Peterson
Guest Commentary

Pennsylvania, Prioritize Literacy

Only 17 percent of Philadelphia fourth graders read at grade level. Let’s tell Harrisburg to pass bipartisan bills that invest in our kids and our future, says a PA literacy leader

By Rachael Garnick
Citizen of the Week

Thembi Palmer, Reader

The storyteller sings, dances, puppets and laughs with books to help children get excited about — and learn — reading

By Courtney DuChene

Literacy is Never Neutral

What Percival Everett’s National Book Award-winning James tells us about the crisis of literacy in Philadelphia.

By Dr. James Peterson