Date Published: July 5, 2006
Florida's leaders know what it takes to make childrens' lives better.
Better prenatal and perinatal care reduces the number of underweight newborns and infant deaths. Keeping children engaged in education means fewer teen pregnancies and less chance that teens will drop out of school -- and of their best chance of a productive life. Poverty represents a barrier to children, one that must be overcome before they can succeed.
Florida has the resources -- and the mandate -- to tackle these problems. A booming construction industry has poured billions into the state's coffers. Diverting more of that money toward the needs of children makes sense -- it's an investment in a healthier, more prosperous future.
But it's not an investment state leaders seem prepared to make.
That failure shows up annually in Kids Count, a national ranking of child welfare in the 50 states sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Florida's cumulative ranking has been stuck in the dismal mid-30s for years. State officials argue that the data used in the ranking for Florida's children is roughly three years old. But they can't offer any proof that things will get better any time soon.
The numbers show where the state is slipping: The state's teen death rate increased from 2002 to 2003, a time period when the national rate was declining, indicating that Florida's missing opportunities to save young lives. The number of low birth-weight babies increased as well, meaning that more children enter their lives with increased risk of developmental delays and health problems. And the number of teenagers who aren't in school, but don't have a job, remains above the national average.
Education would provide the key to solving many of the problems. Yet the Legislature fought, nearly every step of the way, against a voter-approved constitutional mandate to reduce class sizes. Another voter demand to create a high-quality prekindergarten program stumbled badly, with lawmakers approving only enough funding for a program that offers too little instruction time and doesn't require qualified teachers.
Florida's leaders haven't been ignoring education -- but they have been putting far too much emphasis on high-stakes testing and artificial grading measures. The result could be a continued increase in the number of children who get discouraged and quit school before graduation. Dropout rates are currently holding steady; they should be going down.
Children's health should provide a bright spot. After all, Florida blazed the trail in the national movement to make sure kids have health coverage. Unfortunately, over the past few years lawmakers have been slowly tightening eligibility requirements for the program, making it harder to enroll. State leaders protest that they've fully funded the program for the current fiscal year -- but they still have the results of a few years of neglect to make up for.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have all but abandoned any attempt to help Floridians caught in crushing poverty -- a vise that tightens as housing costs rise. Forty-two percent of Florida's children live in low-income families, with 18 percent subsisting below the poverty line. Both numbers could grow as cuts to supportive services like job-training and subsidized care have their effect on Florida's large class of working poor.
The Casey Foundation's rankings have become an annual shame for Florida. We're still waiting for state leaders who will look at those numbers and make concrete plans for improvement, rather than excuses for failure.
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
July 5, 2006 Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal |