Overview:
Texas is facing a literacy crisis, with thousands of children left behind due to inequities in the education system. The state ranks 44th in literacy rates and nearly one in five adults lack basic reading skills. The use of technology in classrooms, including a ban on cell phones and the integration of AI tools, is raising questions about engagement and accessibility, particularly for low-income students. Without robust literacy skills, AI only widens the gap, and the state’s economy will falter under the weight of an unprepared labor force. The literacy crisis is both systemic and moral, and without early reading intervention, equitable technology access, and teacher support, the next generation risks being fluent in devices but not in language.
In Texas classrooms, the hum of technology has become constant — yet the voices of many students are fading. With smartphones locked away and artificial intelligence woven into lesson plans, the state’s literacy crisis is entering a new era. Lawmakers and educators are wrestling with how to teach reading and writing in the digital age, but the inequities baked into the system are leaving thousands of children behind before they even learn to read.
“Our kids can’t read,” points out one Texas State Board of Education member. “That’s just the number 44 for literacy rates. If we’re going to be real about where Texas stands, we have to stop labeling kids ‘at risk’ before we’ve even given them a fair shot.”
Reading in the Age of Restriction
Texas students are now spending full school days without cell phones. This is a change some parents celebrate as a return to focus. Dr. Tiffany Clark, Texas State Board of Education District 13 disclosed exclusively to Dallas Weekly that early classroom reports from teachers in North Texas say students are talking more, paying better attention, and re-learning how to socialize.
Still, the ban has raised new questions about how engagement and accessibility intersect. Dr. Clark recalled one student who forgot their phone on PSAT day and was punished for following the rules.
According to Clark, the student tried to do the right thing. “They turned in their phone and still got penalized. So what message are we sending about responsibility?”
While some districts are applauding stricter classroom management, others worry that these policies expose deeper divides. For low-income students — those who depend on mobile devices to access assignments or college applications — the ban can make an already uneven learning field even steeper.
AI in the Classroom: Promise or Problem?
At the same time, Texas schools are quietly integrating artificial intelligence into instruction. From grammar checkers to math correction software, AI tools are marketed as classroom companions. Yet the rollout hasn’t been transparent.
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Some parents didn’t even know an AI behavior program was being tested. The state had to shut it down because there was no way to monitor how students were actually learning, Dr. Clark interjected.
The tension reflects a larger state problem: how to innovate without deepening inequity. AI products like Magma Math, which provides feedback on handwritten work in multiple languages, are promising examples of equitable technology. But as Clark cautioned, without robust literacy skills, AI only widens the gap.
“You can’t give kids full autonomy with a computer when they’re still struggling to read,” she said. “We can’t tech our way out of illiteracy.”
The Literacy Gap Widens
Despite the state’s 2025 Texas State Literacy Plan, which promises high-quality early reading support, Texas ranks 40th in adult literacy nationwide. Nearly one in five adults lack basic reading skills. The state spends roughly $8,350 per student, ranking 43rd nationally in per-pupil funding.
Meanwhile, the TEA still lacks visibility into student progress in early grades — a gap advocates say prevents early intervention.
Without data from K through 3, education agencies are blind to who’s falling behind. The Commit Partnership. In a sense, agencies can’t support what they can’t see. The inequities run deeper in rural and urban communities alike. Texas meets only four of ten national quality benchmarks for pre-K, and 43% of adults with the lowest literacy levels live in poverty. Literacy gaps also intersect with language barriers: 40% of Texans speak a language other than English at home, double the national average.
Religion, Politics, and the Reading Desk
As Texas educators grapple with technology, they’re also navigating a wave of politically charged mandates, including requirements to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Dr. Clark clarified that the law mandates commandments must be those from the King James Version. “Districts can’t pay for it, so it has to be donated.” This begs the question: Is the new Texas legislature too focused on pushing religious symbols into classrooms instead of addressing the fact that kids can’t read?
These cultural battles, she argues, distract from the core crisis: literacy as a civil right.
It’s clear that if districts spend energy on symbolism instead of substance, students lose.
An Unequal Future
By 2040, Texas will have nearly 36 million residents — more than half of them Hispanic, and nearly one in five over 65. Yet the state is on track to face an undereducated workforce and declining economic mobility. The Texas Association of Workforce Boards warns that unless literacy rates improve, the state’s economy will falter under the weight of an unprepared labor force.
Technology, Clark says, could either bridge that divide or harden it.
“AI isn’t going anywhere,” she confirmed. “But if we want it to serve every child, we have to build literacy first, not after the fact.”
A Call to Read, and to Reform
In a state where funding gaps and cultural battles threaten to overshadow learning itself, Texas’s literacy crisis is both systemic and moral. Without early reading intervention, equitable technology access, and teacher support, the next generation risks being fluent in devices but not in language.
“At the end of the day,” Clark reflects, “we can teach kids how to use every tool in the world — but if they can’t read the words in front of them, we’ve failed them.”
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