The path to prison is often paved by illiteracy. Yet many prisoners aren’t being taught to read. SALEM, Ore. — Vincent Valdez’s childhood memories are tinted by the vodka-filled water bottle he brought to class. “I’ve thrown up a couple of times in the middle of the classroom,” he said. “I’ve fallen over on the bus.” Valdez grew up in…

Low literacy linked to New Mexico’s poverty There is an inextricable link between poverty and literacy — particularly between child poverty and literacy, according to education experts. And for many New Mexicans, the relationship is generational. That is grim news for New Mexico, which had a poverty rate in 2021 of 19.1% — the third highest in the country and…