Mesa is one of the least literate big cities in the U.S., according to a study that found only five communities have a citizenry less interested in reading.
That makes Mesa the 70th most literate city, according to an annual report by Central Connecticut State University that evaluated communities with 250,000 or more residents.
The study measured the number of bookstores per 10,000 residents, newspaper circulation, library resources, periodical publishing, educational attainment and Internet resources.
The university claims the literacy rankings serve as a barometer of cultural and social health, and that the study should spur a discussion in communities that have poor rankings.
Mayor Scott Smith said he welcomes a conversation - just not about the survey.
It doesn't measure the quality of media centers in public schools, the city's push to boost college attendance or an initiative to bring private colleges to the city, he said.
"I'm angry that studies like this tend to focus on things that have no value. They don't create good discussions because they're based on incorrect information or data and they tend to direct attention to the people doing the study," Smith said. "I'm not attempting to gloss over our challenges. From Day 1, we have worked hard to recognize where we have shortcomings and are working to fix those, not react to silly studies."
Mesa was in a multi-city tie for last place in the categories of newspapers and Internet. However, the organizations that measure newspaper readership and Internet don't have any data for Mesa and several other cities. In those cases, the cities were ranked last.
University spokesman Mark McLaughlin acknowledged the problem with the lack of data. He said the most important thing to take from the survey is whether communities with low rankings try to improve what's available to the public.
He noted El Paso, Texas, has been near the bottom for years but has started an initiative to increase reading.
"This year, I've seen at least two editorials picking up on the survey, saying ‘OK, enough is enough. We need to be investing in the literacy of our citizens,'" McLaughlin said.
All the factors that contribute to literacy took a blow from the troubled economy, he said. But a community's wealth or education levels don't translate directly to their cultural health, McLaughlin said.
The study found St. Louis has the 70th lowest family income, but the 8th highest literacy. Cleveland has the second-lowest income but is the 13th most literate city.
Mesa has acknowledged a problem with its college graduation rates. Only 8 percent of those under 26 have a college degree or technical certificate. The city is trying to double that with Mesa Counts on College, one of four programs in the nation to get a $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The two-year -old effort is getting children interested in college at a younger age, said Amy Trethaway, a city employee with Mesa Counts on College. The program shows the community is doing what it can to improve education but the study doesn't give credit for that.
"I think when you look at all the areas, some are within control of the city and some have to do with the economy, but we definitely have a commitment to the educational piece," Trethaway said.
Smith said the city laid out its shortcomings when applying for the Gates grant.
"They said we were probably more honest than any other community they had worked with in accepting that we have problems," he said. "I think that's a strength in this community."
He noted Mesa is recruiting private colleges to expand the kind of degrees or technical training offered locally. Benedictine University of suburban Chicago has announced plans for a Mesa campus and the city is in advanced negotiations with several other unnamed institutions.
McLaughlin said many communities that end up with poor rankings begin taking some kind of action. He said Mesa's college initiatives are the type of action the study hopes to produce.
"I see that having a big impact on everything," he said. "You're going to have more Internet access, more bookstores, more higher education, more libraries. You'll just have more people who are engaged in reading."
Contact writer: (480) 898-6548 or ggroff@evtrib.com
Leon Ceniceros posted at 7:26 am on Wed, Feb 1, 2012.
Hello.....reality check time. Mesa has zillions of Senior Citizens living on Social Security....make that "existing" on Social Security. Paperback books with print to small for an ant to read costs $7 each. Senior Citizens have limited choice for transportation to City Libraries. The Big-Book stores have all gone belly-up or moved out. Let's face it ...it's easier and cheaper to watch the booob-tube.
As for our local newspapers...Mesa's citizens are conservative. Mesa's newspapers are Liberal. Why buy or even read a free newspaper that you don't agree with 99% of the time.
arizonaboy posted at 8:27 am on Wed, Feb 1, 2012.
Have to agree with you Leon, Mayor Smith needs to get out and meet the real citizens of Mesa. Maybe while he's at it he can check out some of the not so great schools we have. Kids trying to get an education cant, When my Granddaughter attended Taylor her grades went from straight A's to C's and D's. We took her out and put her in Poston and she's back to straight A's. Next year she will attend Mountain View I hope. Were on an open enrollment list. If she doesn't get into Mountain View we'll look at private schools.
Get out of the office Scott and take a really good look at whats going on in the real Mesa.
Rich posted at 8:35 am on Wed, Feb 1, 2012.
Some group of eggheads, usually at a college or university, for credit, identify something that could be something they don't understand. This gets in the newspaper and some politician decides something has to be done about it. The politician then gets the government involved in it, and whatever it is it gets a lot worse and a great deal more expensive.
JMJ posted at 9:01 am on Wed, Feb 1, 2012.
The bimbo boss removed the "AR" [accelerated reader] program from our school a few years ago even though there were options to keep the program. The bimbo boss censored curricular, previously approved books for students based on one complaint from one parent. The bimbo boss could not even read correctly, as was evidenced in meetings and otherschool-related arenas where the bimbo boss was trying to get through preprinted forms designed by the bimbo boss and mispronounced and butchered. Enlisting the aid of a sixth-grader helped tremendously in those pinches.
Indeed, get out and visit some of the public schools in Mesa and see that this is a top-down problem where unqualified friends are chosen to "lead" schools. Reading is essential to learning, and not having a built-in reading program such as AR as an INCENTIVE to read has demoralized the students and the teachers.
Some schools recognized that this is an essential resource and didn't deep six AR. Bimbo boss was being political and micromanaging a veteran staff. Ding dong. Wake up Mesa! Illiteracy is ringing your doorbell. Reading nonsense syllables in isolation is not the best indicator of reading ability. Comprehension is a better benchmark. Literature rich schools turn out better readers.
Hello? Hello?
davidflucier posted at 9:23 am on Wed, Feb 1, 2012.
And so the answer is cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the educational budget and expect a better outcome? Up is down, less is more and light is dark in Arizona world.
Cerulean posted at 9:29 am on Wed, Feb 1, 2012.
“Smith said the city laid out its shortcomings when applying for the Gates grant”
The “Gates” grant is the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation Grant for improving education in the United States. Thank you Bill and Malinda Gates.
I wonder if this result of poor literacy has anything to do with the fact that Mesa is a bastion of neo-Republicans and these Republicans care less about education. Ha! I think it must be! Tucson ranks at 55 with just as many seniors and twice the liberal newspapers – they could do better too.
(Leon, the sad part is that the b - - b tube that seniors are watching, is tuned to Fox news)
Rational Human posted at 10:08 am on Wed, Feb 1, 2012.
Your above liberal responses are always the same thing over and over again. Just throw more money at a failed education system. Let's never put the blame on those who deserve to own up to the responsibility for this problem. That would be the teachers, parents, and the children themselves. And of course lets never mention the tremendous amount of money wasted educating and feeding other countries children that a liberal agenda has forced upon us. Let's just blame the GOP for balancing the budget with the help of meager education cuts needed to balance the budget.
CooperG posted at 10:47 am on Wed, Feb 1, 2012.
Gee, I'm not surprised. All one has to do is read the common posts here and see that literacy isn't a highly treasured skill. When you have a governor and other elected officials who resent intellect, who's surprised when the people who elect them get insulted and attempts to shoot the messenger when one of the factors that contributes to the lack of understanding is pointed out to them is their fault and avoidable.
Masterrogue666 posted at 12:53 pm on Wed, Feb 1, 2012.
"The study measured the number of bookstores per 10,000 residents, newspaper circulation, library resources, periodical publishing, educational attainment and Internet resources." -- IMHO, that isn't a very concise way to measure the literary skill of a populace. The only true measure would be to test each citizen. Good luck with that....
Rich posted at 4:10 pm on Wed, Feb 1, 2012.
This is the summary of a story by W. Somerset Maugham, originally titled "The Man Who Made His Mark," republished and subsequently filmed as "The Verger."
Albert Foreman, the verger (lay minister) at St. Peter's in Neville Square was illiterate, despite serving many years as a verger. A new vicar , following progressive standards insists he learn to read, when he declares he is too old to learn, the vicar reluctantly fires him.
Foreman walks a bit aimlessly home and runs out of cigarettes, searches for a tobacconist but can't find one. So he opens one, and proposes to Emma. Together they make the shop a success, and open another shop, run by his stepdaughter and her husband. Over the next decade they replicate the shop over and over, and he becomes wealthy and successful.
One day the manager at his bank hands him some investment possibilities to read over. This forces Foreman to admit that he never learned to read. Which because he is a wealthy, successful man prompts the bank manager to ask if he knew where he would be today if he had learned. Foreman replied that he knew exactly where he would be, the verger at St. Peters in Neville Square.