We believe that a more phonetic system of spelling can improve literacy in America and make it easier for every child to read and write. The English language is very difficult to learn because it has 185 spellings for 44 sounds. In fact, it has 94 unpredictable spellings.On average, a child learns the basics of the English language in three years, whereas children can learn Finnish in an average of six months. However, some don’t even make it that far. Children who are not able to master this complex language and read proficiently by fourth grade are four times likelier to drop out of school. This is a major problem. As of 2013, 32 million adults in the U.S. can't read; that's 14 percent of the population. Embarrassingly, the US is ranked 16th out of 23 countries in literacy proficiency. We need to make a change. In order to make this change, we ask for your support in fighting for spelling reform.