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Wednesday, October 9, 2024

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Hurricane Milton makes landfall near Siesta Key; expected to remain a hurricane as it moves across central FL; Groups file an emergency lawsuit to reopen FL voter registration amid hurricanes; ND wildfires: Heavy damage to cropland; importance of early warnings; Report: 67 PA counties boom for low unemployment, job growth, wage increase.

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President Biden denounces disinformation about federal disaster response. Experts address concerns about how hurricanes impact voting, and activists left and right question VP Harris' stance on meat.

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Hurricane Helene has some rural North Carolina towns worried larger communities might get more attention, mixed feelings about ranked choice voting on the Oregon ballot next month, and New York farmers earn money feeding school kids.

Report: DE Needs Increased Education Investments for Kids

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Wednesday, June 14, 2023   

A new annual report suggests Delaware needs further investments in areas affecting children and young families, particularly in education.

This year's Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Book found Delaware's overall ranking has sagged to 34th among the states. The rankings encompass four areas: health, education, economic well-being, and family and community factors.

In education, the state saw kids' proficiency in fourth grade reading and eighth grade math decrease between 2019 and 2022.

Janice Barlow, Kids Count director at the University of Delaware, said it was a national trend, as the pandemic erased decades of improvements. For it to change, she feels kids must be a priority.

"We need to be thinking about what supports we can put into place, across all four of the domains, in order to ensure that kids have access to opportunity equally, and can take advantage and really move the needle," Barlow asserted.

The state could begin by bolstering child care. Barlow argued with the high cost of care, the current system is underfunded and must become more sustainable. An Economic Policy Institute report finds the average annual costs of infant care in Delaware is a little more than $11,000 a year.

Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said children and families in the U.S. need more affordable, accessible and quality child care. She is aware there will be significant challenges to making it happen.

"Infant care is the most expensive, and it is actually higher than in-state college tuition in 34 states," Boissiere reported. "The affordability for families is a huge challenge. And at the same time, early child care workers are among the lowest paid in the country."

A report last year by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment found 53% of child care workers or family members were enrolled in at least one public assistance program, compared to 21% of the U.S. workforce as a whole.

Disclosure: The Annie E. Casey Foundation contributes to our fund for reporting on Children's Issues, Education, Juvenile Justice, and Welfare Reform. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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