Study says literacy in Mass. suffers

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - A new study says people in Massachusetts lack basic reading skills.

According to the study released by the National Center for Education Statistics, more than half a million workers in Massachusetts have low literacy levels.

That number represents ten percent of people sixteen and older in the state who lack basic reading skills and have trouble understanding important documents.

Joana Mercardo of Springfield is one of the the 160 students at Valley Opportunity Council in Chicopee trying to educate themselves later in life. She plans on taking her GED test next month. She told 22 News, "My daughter is about to finish high school and that is the only child that I have. So I wanted to educate myself and do something now that she will be gone."

The Valley Opportunity Council has free classes for all learning levels including six levels of English As A Second Language and three levels of adult education.