BUFFALO, N.Y. — It’s not just Buffalo where students are struggling to read and write.
Only 39 percent of third through fifth graders in Western New York’s 99 school districts scored at grade level on recent English Language Arts tests.
What’s more, 31 percent of students lack even basic reading and writing skills. In some districts, including Buffalo and Niagara Falls, that figure approaches or exceeds 50 percent.
The problems extend from the city to the countryside, urban neighborhoods to suburban cul de sacs, according to an Investigative Post analysis of New York State Education Department data. Poverty plays a big role.