By: Trimmel Gomes
Florida is ranked 30th in the 2024 Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The annual report ranks states on the overall condition of children in four
areas: economic well-being, education, health, and community and family.
Florida's education numbers maintained last year's high marks, coming in fifth.
Norin Dollard, Kids Count director at the Florida Policy Institute, said she
has mixed feelings about the state's educational outcomes, considering how much
the state is underinvesting in public education.
"Sixty-one percent of fourth graders are not reading proficiently,"
Dollard reported. "I don't care what your ranking is per se, that means
there's a need for greater investment in our young readers to get them to a
place where they are more proficient."
In health, the state is doing worse with an increase in low birth-weight
babies, and an increase in child and teen deaths per 100,000. The state did see
improvements in the area of family and community. The number of children living
in single-parent families and in high-poverty areas decreased.
Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs for the Annie E. Casey
Foundation, said overall, there are worse educational outcomes for students of
color, kids in immigrant families, and children from low-income families or
attending low-income schools. The gaps can affect their ability to succeed and
thrive as adults.
"We continue to see disparities persist for kids of color, particularly
for Black kids, for Latino kids, and for Native kids," Boissiere outlined.
"It's persistent across states, and it's pervasive across the decades that
we've been reporting the Data Book."
While some areas have worsened, overall Florida's child well-being index has
improved. After three years of ranking 35th, it improved to 31st last year and
30th this year.
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