Andaloussi was born the youngest son in Fez to illiterate parents, and his father was a carpenter.

Chicanos remain the most disadvantaged of California's major minority groups, with many first-generation parents both impoverished and illiterate.

He was the child of illiterate parents.

The school has the hardship of trying to educate the children of illiterate parents.

The president said the 16-year-old program, which serves low-income children of illiterate parents, was ineffective.

"Children with illiterate parents have suffered the most."

He was not born behind a grocery store to two illiterate, beautiful, hardworking parents.

"I remembered the anguished faces of the illiterate parents who listened to me as I sat reading to their children," he said.

"In a beautiful twist, they can be used as a bridge between the illiterate parent and the learning-to-read child," he said.

The charity, funded mostly through family funds, has worked in education, and gathered attention for innovative projects like helping children of illiterate parents with their homework.