A lot of good responses. The best path toward literacy is for parents to encourage it by also being literate.
Unfortunately, many of our children are in families that do not have the time or will to ensure their children develop adequate reading comprehension skills. That is where the school system must fill in the gaps, but too many schools in impoverished areas have moved away from various forms of reading programs. In fact, quite a few of them do not even require teachers to be trained in how to teach reading. So a return to the old ways of reading instruction in schools is needed, and teachers must be educated in effective methods for teaching reading comprehension.
Make sure your own children are properly educated in reading comprehension, and vote for school board members who understand the critical nature of how fundamental reading is. Poor reading skills lead to poor higher-order math skills, low history test scores, and weak understanding in science courses. Your reading comprehension is the most important component to success in all those other areas of study.