“We have way more kids now who are functionally illiterate” – Tim Daly, CEO of EdNavigator.

Those 10 words should shake every Delaware parent, teacher and policymaker awake. As Nancy Mercante, founder of Citizens for Delaware Schools and contributor to the Caesar Rodney Institute, wrote this week, Delaware’s literacy and math crisis “is both a state and a national tragedy – one that diminishes generations of children’s potential, dignity and opportunity.”

New data confirm what teachers already know: only 41% of Delaware students in grades 3-8 are proficient in reading and 34% in math. Among 11th-graders taking the SAT, just 18% met math standards. These numbers are not statistics; they are the measure of a system that has lost its focus on teaching children how to read.

Mercante and the Caesar Rodney Institute’s Center for Education Policy, led by Dr. Tanya Hettler, have been clear about the path forward: Delaware must fully implement the science of reading now, not by 2028. As Hettler warned, every year of delay leaves thousands more students unable to read at grade level.

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Mississippi, once ranked near the bottom nationally, adopted the science of reading a decade ago and within six years achieved what educators call the Mississippi Miracle. By focusing on phonics-based instruction, retraining teachers and holding districts accountable, Mississippi moved from 49th to 21st in national reading scores.

Delaware can do the same, but only if we act with the same urgency and discipline. As Mercante wrote, “Declaring a literacy emergency is a start, but Delaware’s 12-year decline demands far more.”

The Caesar Rodney Institute and Citizens for Delaware Schools have given our state the blueprint. Now it’s time for Delaware’s leaders to follow it and give every child the gift of literacy.