• What is NIE
• What NIE means to you
• Why NIE is important to you
• How do students benefit
• Make a donation to NIE
• Current School Closings

Why NIE is important to you

Today’s students are tomorrow’s consumers and workers. As a community member you know that educated and informed employees and consumers are vital to the health of our nation. And that health begins at home … in our community.

Over the past decades the evidence of illiteracy and lack of basic skills among Americans has been mounting:

• One in five American adults is functionally illiterate, according to the U.S. Department of Education. An additional 34 percent of American adults are only marginally literate.
• Sixty percent of America’s prison inmates are illiterate and 85 percent of all juvenile offenders have problems reading, the U.S. Department of Education reports.
• Among the 156 United Nations member countries, the United States ranks 49th in literacy. This constitutes a drop of 18 places since 1950.
• The United Way estimates that illiteracy costs taxpayers and businesses $20 billion per year.