This month, WUWM has been looking at ways that schools are addressing low literacy rates among Milwaukee children. But what about our city’s adults? 

One in four adults in Milwaukee reads at or below a third grade level. Thousands of adults have sought help through free programs offered by Literacy Services of Wisconsin. WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal met with Literacy Services executive director Holly McCoy-Perez at the organization’s new headquarters in the Brewer’s Hill neighborhood. They discuss how strengthening reading education for young children can have a snowball effect on future generations.