Op-ed: Six ways businesses can relieve literacy inequalities

Houston, we have more than a problem. We have a literacy crisis amongst our youngest Houstonians and the pandemic has only made the situation worse.

Even before the pandemic, statistics shockingly showed that 63% of third-graders in Houston alone did not read at grade level. However, since the pandemic began almost two years ago, that number has increased to a startling 73%. 

Although childhood illiteracy is a result of various factors, social and economic inequities play a vital role. Children…