'Prisons must by law have libraries - so why don't schools?' (UK)

From The Evening Standard - Sack the teachers! Expel non-reading parents! Carpet-bomb the inner city with copies of The Cat in the Hat! These are just a few of the more colourful responses to the Evening Standard's investigation into London's literacy crisis, published last week. Our reports - which highlighted the jaw-dropping facts that one in three children has no books at home, that one in four 11-year-olds cannot read or write properly and that one in five leaves secondary school still unable to read with confidence - have united the Standard's readers in shock. Hearteningly, for every howl there is a thoughtful suggestion, often in the same email. Encouraged by this reaction - and by pledges of support from Britain's best loved writers - the Evening Standard today launches its Get London Reading campaign, which will, we hope, channel the passions roused into effective change...