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Hello! It’s Rebecca here from Chalkbeat Philly.

All of a sudden over the weekend, everyone seemed to be talking about literacy in Philly. A video of a high school student at Preparatory Charter High School asking students to read a sentence went viral. In the video, many appeared unable to read the sentence before them.

The video stirred controversy in Philly and nationally. Preparatory Charter High School put out a statement saying the video “does not accurately reflect our school community” and “lacks important context.”

But some literacy advocates say there’s an important lesson here: “Hearing high schoolers struggle with words forces us to confront something we’d rather scroll past,” the group Read by 4th said in a statement posted online. “The video made the decades-long literary crisis visible and visceral in a way no statistic ever could.”

How do you think we should be covering literacy in Philly? Let us know by responding to this email or reach us at [email protected]. If you want text updates about the Philadelphia Board of Education, you can text SCHOOL to 215-709-9650.

Toya Algarin sees grandmothers as a way through Philadelphia’s literacy crisis, Read by 4th

Did School Cellphone Bans Work? New Study Finds Mixed Results. The New York Times (Paywall)

Philadelphia School Board President on Closures: ‘This Decision Wasn’t Taken Lightly,’ City Cast Philly

At 250, the Declaration of Independence Still Sparks Hard Questions in Class, The 74

Thumbnail image by Caroline Gutman for Chalkbeat.