Former Omaha public school educator launches nonprofit to improve student literacy [Video]

In 2022, Kailey Barry left her public school job in Omaha to pursue a lofty goal: ensure more children in the metro area know how to read — not only proficiently, but with evidence-based strategies.

The speech-language pathologist’s dream is finally coming to fruition as Barry launches Right to Read Omaha, a new nonprofit that will offer low-cost programming for teachers who want to get professional development on literacy and families of children who need reading intervention and advocacy in the education system.

Barry said her idea came after the pandemic shed light on the widening gap in elementary reading proficiency — roughly two-thirds of Nebraska fourth-graders aren’t proficient readers, meaning they read at a basic or below basic level, according to the most recent state test data.

She knew she couldn’t make enough headway within the red tape of a public school district. Instead, she left to create Right to Read Omaha, which will …