Blogger-teacher Dana Huff of HuffEnglish finds herself dismayed by a report that as many as 3% of college graduates are functionally illiterate.

The figure comes from a study of adult literacy funded by the Department of Education. The survey, done in 2003, found 3% of college graduates lacking "basic literacy," which translates to 800,000 people nationwide.

How is it that these people became college graduates if they cannot perform basic reading skills? I find that frightening. It tells me that a college degree today must be worth less than a college degree awarded, say, in my own parents' generation -- the late 1960's.

The study criticized the usual suspects, like TV, and Huff concludes that English teachers need to establish a "cultural literacy" among their students, linking books like The Scarlet Letter  to common phrases such as "Fine, why not just slap a scarlet letter on my chest and be done with it."