By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt say literacy is more important now than ever, not only to those students planning to go to college, but for those seeking a job in the new high-skill labor market.
Blunt, in St. Joseph for the 29th annual Roy Blunt Literacy Award luncheon at Missouri Western State University, calls literacy a workforce training activity, especially in an economy with more openings than qualified people to fill them.
“Frankly, the four-year college degree is not often the best way to make the kind of income you’d like to see for you and your family,” Blunt tells reporters.
Blunt says literacy efforts can inspire kids to seek the skills needed for the opportunities be out there.
Blunt says high-skill jobs from auto mechanic to computer programmer offer very good pay and do not require a college degree. The senator, though, says they do require good literacy skills.