MIDLAND Drawing on her own love of learning, Texas first lady Cecilia Abbott addressed the importance of reading at the Literacy Summit Tuesday.
The gathering was called Reading is Power Advancing Communities. It drew educators, business people, elected officials and other dignitaries, was presented by the Literacy Coalition of the Permian Basin at the CEED Building and Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center.
Abbott was introduced by Don Evans, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
Quoting Frederick Douglass, Abbott said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
“Those were the words of Frederick Douglass, a man born into slavery. A man who fought against the chains of ignorance and helped to set our nation free. It is so easy to take for granted the incredible gift you were given when you were taught to read,” Abbott said.
Growing up in San Antonio, both her parents were educators, so she was raised with a love of learning.
“I knew from a young age that education was the foundation for my future success. I eventually completed my college education at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. As a former principal at schools in Houston and Austin, I have seen firsthand the difference that the gift of literacy makes,” Abbott said.
The daughter of Cecelia and Greg Abbott, Audrey, has begun her professional career and is getting married soon. She said it seemed like only yesterday that Audrey was learning to read.
When a child learns to read, a world of dreams opens up for them, Abbott said.
“We have no doubt that our daughter will live her dreams. But Greg and I have that same wish for every child in Texas. We strive to have every child in Texas reading and writing at or above grade level by third grade. This is so important. Our children must learn to read so that they can read to learn. One key is having excellent teachers in every classroom and that is why the state is investing billions of dollars more in our teachers and in our schools. As a former teacher, I know parent involvement is one of the biggest factors for student success. But it’s not just children who need assistance with literacy. It is sometimes adults. Thankfully, through the Literacy Coalition, you are doing important work to improve literacy skills for Texans in all age groups.”
“Your efforts are providing adults with the skills they need to improve their literacy, which will help them be better prepared to succeed in the workforce, improve the quality of life and share the gift of reading with their families,” she added.
Abbott said over the next three decades, the Permian Basin region is expected to see substantial economic growth.
“Improving adult literacy is critical to creating a skilled workforce pipeline to fuel this growth. I have great hope for the good work you are all doing. There is no force on this earth more powerful than Texans helping Texans,” Abbott said.
Evans, chairman of the Permian Strategic Partnership and former U.S. Commerce Secretary, introduced Abbott and said they need to continue addressing students that can’t read at grade level.
Education, he said, is tied to a strong America and it’s also at the center of a strong Permian Basin.
“We’ve got rapid, dramatic growth out here. We’re going to add another couple hundred thousand jobs in the next couple of decades, which is tremendous growth,” Evans said. “We have to make sure that those jobs, people that are working for us out here can read so they can participate and have one of those jobs.”
Literacy Coalition of the Permian Basin Executive Director John Trischitti, said Literacy Texas was another partner for the summit. They have regional symposiums and the coalition has a literacy summit every other year, so they decided to combine them.
The summit also included panel discussions and breakout sessions.
Trischitti said more people are becoming aware of the literacy issue in the Basin.
During a panel discussion on development and funding of literacy programs, Abell-Hanger Foundation Executive Director Mark Palmer said there are 156,000 people who are unable to read text above a second grade level and a great number of those are completely illiterate, according to a report from AIR.
“Many adults in the Permian Basin are not able to access education programs due to lack of proximity, digital access, child care, or scheduling conflicts with work. Not enough options and not enough services that are delivered in such a way that they’re available to the people who need it,” Palmer said.
The report also addresses the economic impact and turning the situation around and the numbers are stunning, he added.
Tracee Bentley, president and CEO of the Permian Strategic Partnership, said you can download the 2022 needs assessment from the Literacy Coalition website so it can be printed off and used as needed.
“It is just full of staggering information that also shows the opportunity that we have to work together on this important issue. … The Permian Strategic Partnership was invited to be part of the coalition with the Abell-Hanger and others because we knew about all the workforce opportunities that our area is missing out on,” Bentley said.
“By missing out on I’m talking about, first of all, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars, that should stay in the Permian Basin … we’re missing out on because of low or illiteracy. Some of you have heard us say this again, but I think it’s worth repeating that this isn’t just a local level. If we’re not careful … this could become a national or global level (issue). And here’s why because if the Permian Basin were its own energy producing country, it would be the third largest energy producing country in the world, only second to Saudi Arabia and Russia,” Bentley said.
“Given the turmoil that is going on geopolitically, the Permian Basin is a fortress of stability and economic security for the United States and for the world. So if you take that, and in the report, you read that one out of every three adults in the Permian Basin is considered low or illiterate those two things don’t go together. … Something’s got to give there. We already talked a little bit about the economic advantage that we’re missing out (and) our challenges. But we also know that this is an opportunity,” Bentley said.
She added that with low or illiteracy, people are missing out on their chance to advance.
“Those advancements come with health care benefits for their entire family, so that their family can stay well, so that they can” go to work and school every day, Bentley said.
She added that if parents are able to read, they will read to their children, which means those children are prepared to go to school.
“We also know that by 2040, we’re going need 190,000 jobs in the Permian region, 19 counties in West Texas and three in Southeastern Mexico in order to keep producing the energy that the world and this country needs. We can decide, right now today, how we want those jobs to be filled. Either we can have them filled on a rotational basis so we have people from outside coming in and filling those jobs and then they’ll stay for two weeks and then go home and keep rotating or we can say we want those jobs filled” locally, Bentley said.
She added that everyone needs to work together to find out how to uniquely address the issue.
“I think honestly the world is depending on us solving this issue,” Bentley said.
