02/09/2026
Try to wrap your brain around this!
Wonderings have been tugging in my soul and mind for quite awhile. So much so that I am working on creating a House Bill to help Juveniles in the Justice System!
“How much money does Texas spend a year on one prisoner?”
I looked it up, “the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ)” reports an average daily cost of approximately: This figure covers housing, security, and healthcare for the state's prison population.
$86.50 per inmate per day
$31,500 annually
This figure covers housing, security, and healthcare for the state's prison population.
What was the average inmate population in FY2025?
As of March 2025, there were approximately 135,972 inmates in Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison facilities.
Projections indicated that the inmate population was expected to exceed 140,000 by the end of fiscal year 2025, with over 90% of the population being male.
Each of those 135,972 inmates used to sit in a kindergarten, first, second grade classroom learning how to read.
Our brains are not wired to read. Reading is a man-made process that our brains have to be taught how to interpret.
About 5% of the general population will learn how to read with very little instruction.
About 20-30% of the general population will learn to read with general instruction.
The rest (approximately 65%) will need structured, consistent, direct, cumulative, systematic literacy instruction.
Approximately 80-85% of the inmate population is illiterate, meaning they are not reading functionally above a 4th grade reading level. Within this population of illiterate inmates, approximately 50-60% are Dyslexic.
I could go deep into reading research, but I want to highlight a fragile and critical piece of learning how to read…
Let’s name a human need we all have:
belonging and community
Let’s name what children figure out by 6 or 7:
who can read and who can’t
Now, reflect about a time where you knew you didn’t fit in a group.
As adults, we can CHOOSE to find new people - find OUR people.
A child in a second grade classroom (public, private, charter, home-school co-op) doesn’t have that autonomy. SO they find a way to cope with the shame of not belonging.
Not belonging to cool kids club - the kids who are learning to read successfully.
Friends, learning to read English is difficult. Our language includes really really old words, Latin based words, Greek based words, words adopted from Spanish, French, etc.
AND we have mountains and mountains of reading instruction research which provides a solid blueprint of the best approach to teach children how to read.
Not a secret.
But here’s what happens to the second grader who can’t read-
Just like adults, children begin the negative fixed mindset inner dialogue
“There must be something wrong with me. I am not smart. I can’t read.”
Each day, kids go to school (private, public, charter, homeschool co-op) and they hate it because the teacher or parent is going to expect them to read. Day after day. Hour after hour.
Think about doing that thing…the thing you are TERRIBLE at for HOURS each day.
What does this constant struggle do to your self-esteem?
I don’t pretend to have all the answers.
I’ve been out of the public school system for almost a year. I’ve listened to families and teachers across all educational settings share their stories.
I know we have the research to teach substantially more children how to read. I know we have ability to create more contributing members of our state by expanding access to sustainable structured literacy intervention in our state as well as the rest of this country.
It’s going to take courageous compassionate community-centered conversations focused on children and the literal and figurative cost of illiteracy in our state.
FYI: Investing in evidence-based structured literacy intervention for a child easily cost a fourth of the current yearly incarceration rate.
Children deserve to learn to read and have the same opportunities as their peers. They deserve to have the self-confidence that they can be successful in all they do.
We have the research and resources to make a difference not only for our children, but also for our community, & our nation!
Key to Reading: Unlocking Dyslexia
