To the editor:

On Oct. 27, you published an editorial on your website about stamping out adult illiteracy in Suffolk. The editorial relayed an estimate that 25 percent of American children will not learn to read by the time they become adults.

Although that statistic might have applied to the generation born in ‘50s and ‘60s, I believe the American education system has greatly improved since then, and I dispute the assertion that 25 percent of American adults will be illiterate in the future.

This would seem to suggest that there is an even higher percentage of illiterate people in the U.S. right now, something that seems hard to square with reality. I have rarely met an adult who is illiterate in the United States. It would interesting to compare the rate of adult illiteracy from 20 years ago to what it is today.

I think we should focus on how we can put more money into school systems to improve children’s education to help us avoid future failures who will become a tax-dependent population.

As much as adults need help now — and we appreciate the effort to do so — we should focus our real efforts on children, who are the future of the nation.

Bett Jesang

Chesapeake