CFK Weekly -- June 28, 2004
Connect for Kids.org: Better Policies for Kids
June 28, 2004
Table of Contents. Click on heading to jump to that section.
Please send any comments or suggestions to jan@connectforkids.org.
NEW ON CONNECTFORKIDS.ORG
**Arkansas Gets Serious About Kids’ Health
**Notes from the Field
**Don’t Touch That Dial…
KIDS & POLITICS – THREE CHEERS!!!
**Child Nutrition Programs Reauthorized
**Congress Extends Welfare Law
**Margy Waller’s Refresher Course on Welfare Reform
**House Rejects Lopsided “Pay-Go” Budget Rules
**State Leaders Call for Transparency in IDEA Reauthorization
ENGAGING HARD-TO-REACH STUDENTS
**Locating the Dropout Crisis
**Small Schools and Small Learning Communities
**Tapping the Potential: Retaining and Developing High Quality Teachers
**Education’s Monitoring and Information Sharing Could Be Improved
**Youthbuild Gives Troubled Youth a Second Chance
KEEPING THE DOOR OPEN TO HIGHER EDUCATION
**Latino Youth Finishing College -- The Biggest Gaps
**Congress Weighs Changes to Expand Reach of College Aid
GETTING KIDS READY FOR SCHOOL
**Moving Forward: Head Start Children, Families, and Programs in 2003
**Grow Up Great: Happy, Healthy and Ready for School
WORK, WAGES AND THE AMERICAN CHILD
**America has Highest Child Poverty Rates
**Accepting Defeat in the War on Poverty?
**Employment Rates for Single Mothers Fell Substantially During Recent Period of Labor Market Weakness
**Online Information from the States on Assistance for Low-Wage Families
THE BUDGET SQUEEZE ON STATES AND COMMUNITIES
**Federal Education Funding Falls Short
**Title I Funds: Who’s Gaining, Who’s Losing and Why
**Medicaid Still Busting State Budgets
**K-12 Education Funding
**"Illegal Alien Schoolchildren”
LISTENING TO YOUTH VOICES
**What Kids Worry About
**Foster Care Alumni Speak Out
**Remembering Mattie Stepaneck
WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
**Covering Kids and Families Seeks Partner Organizations
**Making Your Voice Heard
MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION
**Guidance on Psychotropic Drugs for School Personnel
FOCUS ON THE STATES
**State-by-State News
SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE
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**Arkansas Gets Serious About Kids’ Health
In national measures of public health, Arkansas consistently ranks near the bottom, with high rates of heart disease and obesity. But a broad new effort aims to change that, starting with kids. Robert Capriccioso reports.
http://www.connectforkids.org
**Notes from the Field
New in Connect for Kids’ Pressroom: timely reports from selected briefings, press conferences, and think-tank panel discussions on issues that matter to kids, with links to on-line resources. If you can’t make a meeting or discussion, let Connect for Kids be your source!
http://www.connectforkids.org
**Don’t Touch That Dial…
How can you give illiterate or limited-English parents the information they need on children's health and development? Julieta Santana reports on how local radio fills a critical informational need in immigrant communities. This article originally appeared in the May-June 2004 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.
http://www.connectforkids.org
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KIDS & POLITICS – THREE CHEERS!!!
Congress had to act before the June 30 deadline to reauthorize a number of programs of keen concern for children and families – especially child nutrition and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare-to-work program. Child advocates got some of their wishes: improvements in child nutrition, a TANF extension that didn’t impose harsher work requirements on struggling families, and a budget bill that didn’t welcome spending on tax cuts while closing the door on funds for middle- and low-income families.
**Child Nutrition Programs Reauthorized
The Senate and House each unanimously passed identical child nutrition reauthorization bills, expected to be signed into law by President Bush before the June 30th deadline. Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) President Jim Weill said, “This legislation will provide greater access and improve the nutritional quality of meals served in schools and out of school programs for many low-income children. Kids will be healthier, do better in school, and be better cared for in after-school, summer, and child care programs.”
http://www.frac.org/html/news/Press_06.24.04.html
House and Senate summaries of the legislation are online.
http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/108th/education/childnutrition/billsummaryfinal.htm
http://agriculture.senate.gov/nutri/reauth.htm
**Congress Extends Welfare Law
The House and Senate passed a “clean extension” (no policy changes) of the TANF federal block grant and related programs until September 30, 2004. Child advocates worked hard to maintain realistic mandates regarding work requirements and to increase funding for child care assistance and other work supports covered by TANF. Under this extension, all proposals for changes are tabled until the next reauthorization debate, which may occur in September.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR04589:@@@D&summ1&
**Margy Waller’s Refresher Course on Welfare Reform
In this column, Brookings Institution visiting fellow Margy Waller offers some insights into what the current debates over welfare reauthorization are really about: whether the federal government will deliberately cut its role in providing public safety net funding to the states.
http://www.cincypost.com/2004/06/21/margy062104.html
**House Rejects Lopsided “Pay-Go” Budget Rules
After a long battle, the House of Representatives rejected HR 4663, a bill sponsored by Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA) that would have exempted tax breaks from the “pay-as-you-go” budget offsets required for other spending, and set tight spending restrictions on discretionary programs appropriated each year -- including education, housing, Head Start, and some child welfare and child care programs. Children’s Defense Fund president Marion Wright Edelman said, “This unjust bill would have forced our neediest children and families to lose critical supports in order to make room for more tax breaks for wealthy individuals and corporations. We are pleased that only a minority of the House of Representatives supported this unconscionable effort.”
http://www.childrensdefense.org/pressreleases/040625.asp
Debate and votes on the proposed budget bill are summarized on Thomas, the Library of Congress’ legislative Web site.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR04663:@@@L&summ2=m&#summary
**State Leaders Call for Transparency in IDEA Reauthorization
In addition to listing their key recommendations, state leaders have written federal lawmakers urging them to keep the legislative process open as during reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in conference committee. Members of the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of State Boards of Education and others warn that “making critical decisions regarding the final language of the bill behind closed doors without, at some point, involving those charged with the responsibility for implementation may jeopardize our ability to support the final conference committee bill.”
http://www.ncsl.org/standcomm/sceduc/edjointltr060704.htm
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ENGAGING HARD-TO-REACH STUDENTS
**Locating the Dropout Crisis
New research on graduation rates finds serious cracks in “the only real and lasting pipeline out of poverty in modern America -- a solid high school education followed by post secondary schooling or training.” At roughly 900 to 1,000 high schools in the country, graduating is at best a 50/50 proposition, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Most are high-poverty schools in northern or western cities and in areas throughout the south. While nearly half of the country's African American students and two out of five Latino students attend one of these schools, high dropout rates do not appear to be race-related. Schools with a “minority majority” and resources graduate students at rates comparable to white majority schools.
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/tdhs/rsch/Locating_Dropouts.pdf
**Small Schools and Small Learning Communities
The movement to make high schools smaller is gaining steam, but middle schools have not been a big part of it. Officials with the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform say that smaller middle schools are the first step in offering young adolescents the personalized attention and learning environments they need to stay engaged and thrive. The Forum calls for more private and public funds to help create smaller middle-school learning communities, and urges middle schools and districts across the nation to look for ways to establish these communities in a cost-efficient manner.
http://www.mgforum.org/Policy/small%20communities/page%201.htm
**Tapping the Potential: Retaining and Developing High Quality Teachers
Growing evidence suggests the teacher quality problem is one of training and retention, as much as recruitment. The Alliance for Excellent Education reports that almost half of new teachers quit in their first five years of teaching. Each year, schools spend $2.6 billion to replace teachers. Better training and support for beginning teachers can help develop a more stable, high quality teaching force.
http://www.all4ed.org/publications/TappingThePotential.pdf
**Education’s Monitoring and Information Sharing Could Be Improved
The General Account Office reports on mentoring programs funded through the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. According to this literature review, successful mentoring programs plan carefully, develop clear management procedures and mentor screening and training processes, boost sustainability through marketing, and evaluate program outcomes. Many of NCLB mentoring programs incorporate these characteristics, but the Department of Education could do a better job to facilitate the exchange of information and evaluation guidelines.
http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04581high.pdf
**Youthbuild Gives Troubled Youth a Second Chance
According to a survey of Youthbuild graduates, many of the young people coming into the program have multiple challenges – chiefly, substance abuse, criminal records and mental health issues. Despite these barriers, three in four graduates report they are pursuing post-secondary education or working in jobs averaging $10 an hour.
http://www.youthbuild.org
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KEEPING THE DOOR OPEN TO HIGHER EDUCATION
**Latino Youth Finishing College -- The Biggest Gaps
Going to college is one thing, graduating is another. This new analysis of longitudinal data finds that academically prepared Latino youth are far behind their white and Asian peers in completing bachelor’s degrees – in fact, the gap is larger than the high school completion gap. Academically prepared Latino high school graduates tend to apply to less selective colleges with lower BA completion rates than those their white counterparts target. Latino students rarely get as far as whites with the same preparation on the same path, in part because they tend to enter college later in life and have greater family and work responsibilities. The one exception to this pattern is at the top -- the nation’s best-prepared Latino undergraduates enroll at the nation’s most selective colleges and universities at the same rate as their white peers. http://www.pewhispanic.org/site/docs/pdf/The%20Role%20of%20Selective%20Pathways_formattedFINAL-06-23-04.pdf
**Congress Weighs Changes to Expand Reach of College Aid
As the number of students heading to higher education surges and the costs of providing financial aid climb, Education Week reports that some members of Congress are trying to offset states’ fiscal burden with cuts in some portions of student-aid.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=41College.h23
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**Moving Forward: Head Start Children, Families, and Programs in 2003
The debate over reauthorizing Head Start stalled in Congress amidst wrangling, in part, over supports Head Start should and does offer. This Center on Law and Social Policy analysis of Head Start found that the program linked families to community services that influence development, learning and school readiness -- including parent education, health education, and crisis intervention. The most dramatic increase occurred in boosting children’s access to dental care.
http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1088017582.58/HS_brf_5.pdf
**Grow Up Great: Happy, Healthy and Ready for School
If you live near a PNC bank, you can pick up this school-readiness kit with a DVD featuring Sesame Street Muppets getting ready for school, a colorful parent/child activity book, and a magazine for preschool parents on health, social and emotional readiness, and language and learning. The kits, created by the Sesame Workshop, are being given free to families and nonprofit early education centers at PNC Bank branches or via 1-877-PNC-GROW.
http://www.pncgrowupgreat.com/grow_up_great.html
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WORK, WAGES AND THE AMERICAN CHILD
**America has Highest Child Poverty Rates
American Child Poverty rates top other industrialized nations according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, covering the Washington Times (“US Child Poverty Seen Highest.”)
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040623-112135-8756r.htm
In the book, “Poor Kids in a Rich Country” economists Timothy Smeeding and Lee Rainwater documented America’s low standing among wealthy countries when it comes to child poverty rates. In a recent interview, Smeeding told Connect for Kids it doesn’t have to be this way.
http://www.connectforkids.org/resources3139/resources_show.htm?doc_id=227267
**Accepting Defeat in the War on Poverty?
Americans often believe in hard work and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps; the self-made man is our hero. In this June 24, 2004 column published in the Charlotte Observer, however, David H. Jones takes America to task for substituting myth for today’s realities and turning our back on the poor who, more and more, are working full-time and falling farther behind.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/8998282.htm
**Employment Rates for Single Mothers Fell Substantially During Recent Period of Labor Market Weakness
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that employment rates for single mothers rose between 1995 and 2000, due in part to a booming economy, expanded assistance for working families and a variety of welfare-to-work policies. But these job gains eroded between 2000 and 2003, when single mothers fared worse in the slow job market than other parents. What’s more, as child poverty rates increased between 2000 and 2003 the welfare safety net -- which was transformed from a guaranteed benefit to a work-support program in 1996 -- did not respond. While more families with children became eligible for cash assistance, fewer actually received it.
http://www.cbpp.org/6-22-04ui.htm
**Online Information from the States on Assistance for Low-Wage Families
If you’re looking for state information about food stamps, Medicaid, SCHIP, TANF or child care assistance, this Center on Budget and Policy Priorities gateway to state links is a good place to start.
http://www.cbpp.org/1-14-04tanf.pdf
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THE BUDGET SQUEEZE ON STATES AND COMMUNITIES
**Federal Education Funding Falls Short
Whether you’re in pre-school, K-12, college, or an adult learner, the National Priorities Project says you can expect federal education spending to fall significantly short of need. Despite an overall increase in federal education spending since 2001, programs ranging from Head Start to college tuition assistance have experienced cuts or under-funding rendering them unable to meet demand. The National Priorities Project -- a progressive group focusing on the impacts of federal tax and spending policies at the community level -- examines the impact of federal education spending on each of the states.
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/issues/edu/fallingshort/index.html
**Title I Funds: Who’s Gaining, Who’s Losing and Why
Federal funding for the Title I program for disadvantaged children will rise by $647 million, but over half of the school districts that participate in the program will receive less Title I money for the coming school year than they did last year, reports the Center for Education Policy. Changes in the data and methods used to allocate funds mean that some additional federal funds will go to poorer districts, but more than half of U.S. districts will have less money to meet the No Child Left Behind Act demands.
http://www.cep-dc.org/pubs/Title1_Funds_15June2004/TitleI_15June2004_Paper.htm
**Medicaid Still Busting State Budgets
This year’s Medicaid rollback in Mississippi is the most drastic to date, but it’s just one of several health care cuts looming in the states, reports Stateline.org. Despite a recent turn for the better in revenues, many states still are struggling to maintain services and avoid restricting the $300 billion health care program that covers the majority of impoverished children.
http://www.stateline.org/stateline/?pa=story&sa=showStoryInfo&id=381040
**K-12 Education Funding
The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government reports that before the current state fiscal crisis hit, states were increasing spending on elementary and secondary education. Every state, even those with strict tax and spending limits, increased real per-pupil spending. The District of Columbia had the greatest growth in real per-pupil spending at 46 percent followed by Wyoming at 30 percent; Florida had the slowest at 3.5 percent.
http://stateandlocalgateway.rockinst.org/fiscal_pub/state_news/sn_reports/SFNV4N5.pdf
**"Illegal Alien Schoolchildren”
In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that states and school districts cannot deny education to children illegally residing in the United States. This General Accounting Office report finds that current government information is not sufficient to directly estimate the state-by-state costs of educating illegal immigrant children.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-733
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**What Kids Worry About
With the exception of worrying about grades, most kids ages 9 to 13 who participated in this KidsHealth survey report they don’t often worry about friends, looks or problems at home. But a minority of kids may need special attention and intervention: about a quarter of the kids reported worrying often.
http://www.nahec.org/KidsPoll
**Foster Care Alumni Speak Out
If you want to know how to improve young people’s lives after they age out of foster care, just ask them. Extending eligibility for health care coverage, help with tuition waivers and reducing the number of times they have to change schools were high on the list as young people spoke of the challenges and supports they needed to become successful, responsible adults at a recent Orphan Foundation of America event.
Read Connect for Kids’ “You Are There” report.
http://www.connectforkids.org/newsletter1538/newsletter.htm
**Remembering Mattie Stepaneck
If you ever caught a Mattie Stepaneck appearance on Larry King or Oprah, you know that he was an inspiration to many in the muscular dystrophy field. A best-selling poet before he was even a teenager, Mattie helped many parents and kids think about illness in a courageous, upbeat way. He passed away last week at age 13. The Muscular Dystrophy Association offers a tribute to Mattie and his legacy.
http://www.mdausa.org/mattie/remember.cfm
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**Covering Kids and Families Seeks Partner Organizations
More than 8.5 million kids in America do not have health insurance, even though many are eligible for low-cost or free coverage through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) or Medicaid. Covering Kids & Families, a national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is seeking organizations to partner in its annual Back-to-School effort to get the word out that there is health care help available for hard-working families and their children.
http://coveringkidsandfamilies.org/communications/
**Making Your Voice Heard
Michael G. Figgins, executive director of the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid agency, recently responded to a Jacksonville Florida Times-Union editorial that praised Florida’s efforts to give welfare over to private contractors. Figgins pointed out that built-in incentives rewarding caseload reductions could give the wrong message for a program that is supposed to serve those who are hardest-to-reach.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/061904/opl_15899163.shtml
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**Guidance on Psychotropic Drugs for School Personnel
There is growing concern among some advocates in the face of recent increases in the use of psychotropic medications by children and adolescents, limited information on the benefits of these therapies for this group, and concerns about the adverse consequences of certain drugs. The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools has developed a fact sheet summarizing recent research and suggesting implications for school-based health care.
http://www.healthinschools.org/sh/psychotropic.asp
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**State-by-State News
California
The California Budget Project’s Children's Budget 2004-05 warns that the deal made between the education community and Governor Schwarzenegger could plummet California to the 50th in the nation in regionally-adjusted per student spending. It also documents ways the Governor's proposed cuts would undercut family services, higher education and medical coverage for California’s children.
http://www.caichildlaw.org/Advocacy.htm#Budget%20Advocacy
Illinois
The Chicago Tribune reports that Mayor Richard Daley’s campaign to improve the city’s schools leans heavily on the private sector for ideas, funding and day-to-day management of more than 100 reorganized schools. (See the June 25 article, “Daley Set to Remake Troubled Schools.”) Free registration required.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0406250358jun25,1,3227100.story
Louisiana
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports on Project Second Chance, offering training designed to provide better job opportunities to parents who are jailed because they are behind on court-ordered child support and other nonviolent offenders. (See the June 22 article, “Prisoners Prepared for Jobs: Nonviolent Offenders Trained Before Release”). Free registration required.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/neworleans/index.ssf?/base/news-2/108788933554650.xml
New York
Up to 10,000 poor teenagers across the state could be out of luck for summer jobs this year unless Governor George Pataki and the state Legislature quickly come up with $10 million, reports Long Island Newsday. (See, “Pataki Proposed Funding Could Cost 10,000 Teens Summer Jobs.”)
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/politics/ny-bc-ny--summerjobs0620jun20,0,3695515.story?coll=nyc-homepage-headlines
The Education Commission of the States reports that the number of New York City students under 21 who have enrolled in alternative high school GED programs has skyrocketed 40 percent just as the city is fighting off lawsuits charging that educators pushed struggling and over-age students out of school or steered them into GED programs to boost graduation rates. (See, “Higher 'Degree' of HS Kids Seek GED.") http://www.ecs.org/html/offsite.asp?document=http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/26088.htm
North Carolina
The Raleigh News & Observer reports that state Senate budget writers are giving Governor Mike Easley less money than he wants for a pre-kindergarten program and to make third-grade classes smaller. Senate budget writers did restore $8.8 million that Easley recommended for a health insurance program for children, and added $6.8 million for child-care subsidies. (See the June 22 article, “Senate Reduces School Funding.”)
http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1359174p-7482155c.html
None of the school districts in the state's Triangle area meet nutrition and exercise standards set by experts, according to a survey by the News & Observer. No district requires elementary schools to provide daily physical education or has policies regulating the type of foods sold in vending machines. Schools are adding profit-generating junk food to a la carte lines at the same time that they are cutting out physical education classes. (See the June 16 article, "Schools Walk Thin Line.")
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1339634p-7462711c.html
New Jersey
The Asbury Park Press reports that the state’s new Department of Labor and Workforce Development is establishing One Stop Career Centers where unemployed residents can access a wide-range of work supports, including advanced career training, literacy and English as a second language, transportation and child-care assistance. (See the June 24 article, “Law Simplifies Getting Work-Related Help.”)
http://www.app.com/app/story/0,21625,988392,00.html
Ohio
This summer, children may enjoy free breakfast and lunch at 173 sites in Columbus, Ohio, and get free transportation to eight of the city's recreation center sites that are serving meals. (See the June 17 article, "Free Summer Food Program Kicks Off at City Rec. Centers.")
http://www.thisweeknews.com/thisweek.php?edition=common&story=thisweeknews/061704/cln/News/061704-News-425185.html
The Campaign to Protect Ohio's Future says that a weak state economy, a current budget balanced using one-time revenue, continued threats of federal funding cuts, increased state costs, and a push to get the budget process finished much sooner is putting pressure on the state budget and threatening future funding for health and human services agencies, reports Athens News. (See the June article, “Officials Warn Local Human-Service Agencies of Coming Budget Storms.”)
http://www.athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=17136
Tennessee
Memphis will soon have one central place for information on public assistance. This fall, EarnBenefits, a program of New York-based nonprofit Seedco, will launch a citizens’ guide to local, state, and federal public assistance. (See the June 8 article, "Unified Benefits Guide Set for Poor.”) First-time users will need to complete the free registration.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/business/article/0,1426,MCA_440_2945630,00.html
Have a safe and happy Fourth of July, everyone!
Jan
Jan Richter, Advocacy Director and the Connect for Kids team
jan@connectforkids.org
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