Groups Address Literacy Challenge

RALEIGH — When Butch Jones signed up to be a tutor, he knew that adult literacy was a problem in Beaufort County, but Jones was not prepared for how bad the situation really was. In the county, 61 percent of people over the age of 18 can’t read above a fifth-grade level. In 82 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, at least half of the population can’t read and do math above a fifth-grade level. The estimate is based on census data about poverty and education levels. But North Carolina’s literacy statistics are no more appalling than national statistics.