9486 in the collection
Georgia kids don't fare well in report
Note that data from Kids Count do not make front page headlines the way standardized test scores do, but at least the paper did make note of the state's dismal showing in how Georgia cares for its children. Mentioned today, forgotten tomorrow.
By Craig Schneider
Child poverty is on the rise in Georgia.
Georgia has the second-highest percentage of high school dropouts in the nation.
And the state's rate of low birth-weight babies is among the worst in the country.
These are some of the "discouraging findings" in the 2007 Kids Count data book released today, a compilation of state and federal information that ranks Georgia among the worst states for taking care of its children.
As Georgia has several years in the past, the state failed to break out of the 10 worst states in the country, though it did improve from 44th to 41st in the rankings. Minnesota ranked in the No. 1 spot, while Mississippi brought up the rear.
"We are not keeping pace with the rest of the country," said Taifa Butler, spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based Family Connection Partnership, which worked with the Annie E. Casey Foundation to produce the report.
"Why can't we get out of the bottom and make improvements?" she added.
The study is based on 2004 and 2005 information, the latest available for nationwide comparison.
The state's problems with poverty and education continue to hurt children, the study says. Georgia children continue to be born at unhealthy weights, live in poverty, struggle in school and live in families that do not have secure employment, the study says.
The number of children who live in poverty increased 11 percent from 2000 to 2005, the report says.
The report notes that one in four of Georgia's children lives in poverty and that 285,000 don't have health insurance.
The combination punch of poverty, poor access to health care and a lack of education contributes to parents' failure to get proper prenatal care.
The number of babies born weighing less than 5.5 pounds increased in Georgia 8 percent from 2000 to 2004. Black infants are twice as likely to be born at a low birth weight than white babies, the report says.
Butler said the state needs to pursue more collaborative efforts that bring local, state and nonprofit groups to bear on these problems, providing at-risk teens with counseling and better education.
This approach has contributed to the drop in births to women ages 15 to 19. That rate improved 16 percent from 2000 to 2004.
The state's efforts on the education front also have brought improvement, helping knock down the dropout rate, the report says.
The high school dropout rate for teens ages 16 to 19 decreased to 10 percent between 2000 and 2005, improving the state's drop out rate by 38 percent.
Steve Dolinger, president of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, praised efforts by the state Education Department to address the problem. This past year, the state placed graduation coaches in nearly all high schools, he said. Next year, similar coaches will go into the middle schools.
"The mission is the same — get the kids across the goal line," he said.
Georgia is in line with the nation in some trends regarding the health and well being of children, including the improvements in the dropout rates, said Douglas Nelson, president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a Baltimore-based nonprofit that advocates and performs research on children's issues.
"Progress on family poverty is stalling in the country, and that's certainly true in Georgia," Nelson said.
But, considering the state's low ranking year after year in the report, he said, "Georgia's aspirations for its kids still have a ways to go before they're fulfilled."
— Craig Schneider
Atlanta Journa-Constitution
2007-07-25
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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