Kids Count Oklahoma 4th Graders Who Scored Below Proficient Reading Level by Family Income

Oklahoma children need housing, food, health care, educational opportunities, and stable, nurturing environments to succeed. These essentials, however, are out of reach for many Oklahomans as the consequence of poverty, structural racism, and other barriers. Oklahoma'southward disparities for child well-being were evidenced by Oklahoma's low overall rank (42nd) in the 2021 KIDS COUNT Data Book. Produced by the Annie East. Casey Foundation, the KIDS COUNT Data Book is the most comprehensive almanac report on child well-being in the United States. Due to the lag in data reporting, this year's Information Volume uses data from 2019, and then the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our state's kid well-being indicators has however to be determined.

Policymakers must take bold action to improve the well-being of Oklahoma children by focusing public investments on the success of the whole family, recognizing that the well-being of our children is intrinsically linked with the well-being of their parents. To make Oklahoma better for our children, we must build on our existing successes, accelerate improvements, and utilize the all-time available evidence to invest in programs and policies that will make the biggest difference for children in our state.

Compared to their peers in other states, Oklahoma students are falling behind

Despite small-scale Pre-Thousand through 12 education funding increases during the final four years, lawmakers however take not adequately funded Oklahoma schools, which take received some of the deepest education cuts in the country in the terminal decade. Oklahoma's public schoolhouse system continues to serve a near-record number of students but is still plagued with overly big class sizes, deteriorating physical spaces, inadequate numbers of back up staff, instructor retention, and more. These years of cuts accept taken their price on our students every bit they continue to rank well behind their peers nationwide in important measures of educational success. When evaluating examination scores, nearly three out of four fourth-graders scored beneath proficient at reading level and three out of iv 8th-graders scored below adept at math level. Additionally, our country's children aren't graduating high school on time. Oklahoma is currently at the lowest percentage of loftier schoolers not graduating in four years since 2012, dropping 13 rankings in nine years.

All children in this state demand equitable access to high-quality public instruction. We can meliorate our students' instructional quality by increasing resources for student support and by investing directly in our teachers by raising pay to the national boilerplate and indexing it to inflation. Currently, Oklahoma teachers make 71 cents on the dollar compared to other professionals with the same teaching and years of experience. Lastly, we should constitute a continuity of pedagogy for children involved in or exiting the child welfare or youth justice systems. Becoming involved within these systems increases the frequency of changing schools. In plough, this disrupts a student's academic progress and can cause repeated beliefs problems, problems that are  compounded by the lower educational quality typically institute within the youth justice arrangement.

Oklahoma'southward health indicators testify no comeback now, but Medicaid expansion is likely to create future improvements

Only five other states accept a greater share of uninsured children than Oklahoma, where 86,000 children — roughly the population of Edmond — don't accept health insurance. When children tin can't see a doctor or fulfill a prescription, a child's health can be impacted, leading to missed days of school and lower educational attainment. Poor health can also trigger financial hardship and other family stressors. Fortunately, recently passed Medicaid expansion is likely to get more Oklahoma children wellness insurance as previously uninsured adults enroll for health care via expansion, they volition be more than likely to enroll their children in country wellness care programs such equally Medicaid and Bit; children are more likely to accept health coverage and receive annual well-child visits once their guardians receive coverage. Wellness care access aside, Oklahoma ranks 40th nationally for the rate of child and teen deaths, most of which are acquired by their environments. For example, the leading causes of premature death for children in the state are unintentional injury past motor vehicles (of which, only one in three were wearing proper seat restraint) and unsafe babe sleep practices.

The offset step to improving Oklahoma'south child health indicators is to protect Medicaid expansion for adults and make it easier for all eligible Oklahomans to enroll and stay enrolled. Lawmakers should also expect to make the American Rescue Plan Deed's temporary expansion of postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to a full year permanent in Oklahoma, improving long-term physical and mental health outcomes for the birthing parent and child both. Lastly, we should expand access to evidence-based parenting classes and home visiting services that can help prevent premature death. Due to state upkeep cuts, electric current home-based family support services are offered in 20 fewer counties than what was bachelor four years ago.

Modest improvements to family and community indicators don't compete with other states' progress

Environmental factors play a huge role in health outcomes, and the KIDS COUNT report highlighted several places where Oklahoma falls short in providing strong, stable dwelling house environments. Oklahoma also ranks 34th for the percent of children living in high-poverty areas, which is defined every bit an area with a poverty rate of 20 percent or more than. While the share of Oklahoma children living in these areas has decreased in the past decade, other states are doing better; as a result, we've fallen from 31st to 33rd during that fourth dimension. Similarly, although nosotros've cut Oklahoma's high teen nativity rate in the terminal decade, 46 states still take lower teen nascence rates, giving Oklahoma an outsize share of households where the birthing parent is between xv-xix years of age. Finally, ane in 10 Oklahoma children are growing up in families where the head of household lacks a high school diploma, which can predict lower educational attainment for children living in that environment.

State and local governments should invest in affordable and reliable public transportation in order to connect families that are overburdened and underserved to jobs and essential services like grocery stores and medical care. Furthermore, our governments should use information to inform where they locate resource such as libraries, task preparation programs, and other services that can aid mitigate whatsoever harmful impacts of living in a high-poverty neighborhood. Lastly, Oklahoma should continue to lower its teen birth rate by expanding access to comprehensive sex education and contraception.

Oklahoma's child economical well-beingness indicators worsened even before the COVID-19 pandemic

Oklahoma'due south time to come economic success depends on supporting families and making economical investments that ensure their economic well-being is secure. Equally Oklahoma lawmakers focused on shrinking country government and cutting spending on safety cyberspace programs during the past ii decades, Oklahomans now have one-4th less services than they did at the showtime of 2000. This has led to stagnant progress at lowering our kid poverty ranking, the tenth worst ranking in the nation. Currently, one in five Oklahoma children alive in households with an income of $25,926 for a family of ii adults and two children. Although the biggest change in economical well-being indicators comes from the percentage of children living in households with a high housing toll brunt. In 2011, Oklahoma was ranked 7th in the country with one in three children living in households that spent more than thirty percent of their income on housing. While the current data shows that this percentage has decreased to 26 per centum, our national ranking continued to worsen, showing other states have made considerable progress in this area over Oklahoma.

This legislative session, Oklahoma lawmakers made an important kickoff step to assistance low-income working families keep more of their earnings past making the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) once again refundable. Notwithstanding, past choosing to decouple the state EITC from the federal EITC,  the land credit will no longer be indexed to inflation, meaning the power of this credit volition eventually decrease over time. If Oklahoma lawmakers are serious about supporting Oklahoma workers, they would be better served by increasing the EITC, recoupling it to the federal charge per unit, and implementing targeted tax cuts that do good low-income, working families. Lawmakers can also help working parents render to the workforce through policies that back up working families, such as expanding access to paid family and medical leave. Lawmakers tin likewise support working Oklahomans through an increased minimum wage, which hasn't changed in 12 years. The electric current minimum wage simply is not enough to embrace basic monthly expenses. At the very least, legislators should allow cities to have more than local control on the issue, which can be done past overturning the 2014 legislation that preempts localities in the state from passing their own minimum wage increases.

Elected officials should evidence Oklahoma prioritizes children through their actions

If nosotros polled every Oklahoma lawmaker, it is likely that each of them would say that protecting and supporting children is amidst their tiptop concerns. Even so, the most recent KIDS COUNT data makes clear that Oklahoma has non prioritized our children's health, education, or well-beingness. Information technology's sobering to think that today's underserved 8th-graders volition be legal adults in merely v short years. Soon, nosotros will exist counting on them to step into their roles as workforce members, parents, volunteers, and community leaders. If we truly want a better future for all of us, we need to focus on policies and budget priorities that can ensure better outcomes for our children at present so they tin can reach their full potential. For Oklahoma's children of color and those from families with low incomes, these investments can assist overcome the systemic barriers created past racism and poverty. Through strategic, information-driven decisions that prioritize their well-existence, nosotros can give all Oklahoma children an equal opportunity to succeed. Until and so, Oklahoma will be resigned to remaining a bottom 10 land for children.

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Source: https://okpolicy.org/kidscount-2021-smart-policy-decisions-can-help-improve-oklahomas-dismal-child-well-being-outcomes/

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