FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — It may surprise you just how many K-12 students across the country including Michigan don’t know how to read.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 19% of fourth graders in Michigan were deemed “reading proficient” in 2024.

But a local nonprofit in Farmington Hills is working hard to boost that number.

“It was a struggle,” Kahlil Assad of Bloomfield Township said.

He told us his son was struggling in school when it came to reading.

“We knew it watching him do his homework, staying up past his bedtime, trying to finish his homework, still not able to finish it,” Assad said.