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Report ranks Arkansas near bottom of states in child well-being Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A report scheduled for release today ranks Arkansas near the bottom of states in the well-being of its children. For the third year in a row, the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Book has ranked Arkansas at 45th in the nation in child well-being, based on data from 2005 and 2006. In nine out of 10 indicators, Arkansas performed worse than the nation as a whole, according to the report. The one exception was Arkansas' teen dropout rate, which was 6 percent in 2006, compared with the national rate that year of 7 percent. The state had the 15th lowest dropout rate in the nation in 2006, up from its ranking of 27th in 2005, when the rate was 8 percent. Arkansas performed worse than the national level in its rates of low-birthweight babies; infant, child and teen deaths; children born to teens; teens not attending school and not working; children in families where no parent has full-time employment; children in single-parent families; and children living in poverty. Twenty-four percent of the state's children were living below the poverty level in 2006, which at that time was an income of $20,444 for a family of four. Arkansas was ranked 44th in that category, the same ranking as in 2005. Paul Kelly, senior policy analyst for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, said poverty is a factor in the state's low overall ranking. "It's been a persistent problem," Kelly said. "I think it's been one of those things that are hard to approach head-on and figure out. It has to do with a lot of factors, from education to economic development to lack of access to health care and all the supports that are necessary for low-income families to work their way out of poverty." The state's dropout rate shows that an increased emphasis on education is achieving results, Kelly said. Following a 2002 state Supreme Court ruling that Arkansas' public schools were not adequately funded, the state Legislature enacted a series of sweeping academic reforms and more that $400 million in new taxes to pay for them. The state's efforts then and since finally satisfied the court last year. "I think they (students) have a more challenging agenda, they have better facilities, they have better-trained teachers, they have lower student-teacher ratios, just to name a few things," Kelly said. "If you enjoy and experience success in school and are getting a quality education, then I would assume you are more likely to stay there." State Department of Education spokeswoman Julie Thompson attributed the reduction of the state's dropout rate to a variety of factors, including improved curriculum standards, increases in teacher salaries and policies to ensure that schools have high-quality teachers. "There's been a lot of emphasis lately on keeping students in high school and then moving them on toward college, because we all know that we're competing in a global economy," she said. "I don't like it," Gov. Mike Beebe said Wednesday when asked about the state's 45th-place ranking. "I'd like to be first." But Beebe said initiatives he has launched since taking office in January 2007 should help the state improve its ranking in the future. Those initiatives include reforming the children's mental health care system with the goal of giving children the most appropriate type of care "as opposed to just institutionalizing everybody," and expanding the state's pre-kindergarten program, the governor said. The Arkansas Better Chance program received a $40 million increase in annual funding last year, which Beebe said would allow it to serve all at-risk 3-and 4-year-olds in the state. "Children that are more academically prepared and more academically successful also tend to have a better quality of life in a number of arenas, not the least of which is in the health care arena," Beebe said. |
