History

Birmingham attorney John Glasser, determined to enhance children’s literacy throughout Alabama founded Better Basics in 1993.

Beginning at one public school in East Lake, a Birmingham neighborhood, his first endeavor was to provide 30 students with one-on-one literacy tutoring and books for the children to read and own. Since then, Glasser’s foundation has expanded within Central Alabama, recruiting hundreds of trained volunteers and certified teachers to provide additional educational resources and instruction in mathematics and literature to thousands of educationally vulnerable public school students.

Before and after participating in the academic programs, children take tests to assess their average reading and math levels. Better Basics’ teachers track the students’ growth and concluded that their students’ reading and mathematics proficiency had grown.