skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

How Can South Dakota Become Better State for Children?

play audio
Play

Monday, August 1, 2016   

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota recently was ranked one of the most-improved states for children’s well-being, but researchers are laying out ways the state could do better.

After looking over the latest >Kids Count Data Book, experts are suggesting several key areas where the state could improve.

Health is a top priority. In 2014, South Dakota saw 71 child and teen deaths. And while that number is down from previous years, the state still has one of the highest rates in the country.

Carole Cochran, director of South Dakota Kids Count, says most of those deaths came from car crashes and accidents. She suggests the state could help by enacting stricter rules for obtaining a driver's license.

"Currently, you can get your driver's license at age 14 and three months,” she points out. “Just lengthening that out by six more months would allow many 14-year olds to experience the wide range of weather and driving conditions in South Dakota."

Cochran says research suggests that if young drivers spend more time behind the wheel, they become better drivers.

And a recent report from WalletHub shows that South Dakota has some of the weakest driving laws in the country coupled with the highest number of teen DUIs per capita.

The other key area where Cochran says the state could improve is early childhood education. The state is seeing more young children not enrolled in school than in previous years.

Cochran suggests that improving access to pre-kindergarten and Early Head Start programs could have economic benefits down the line.

"If we want to have a strong economy, if we want to have businesses coming into the state, they're going to want to look for a strong workforce, educated – a place, if parents have children, that they have a safe place for them to be while they're working if they're not in school," she stresses.

According to the latest data, in 2014 about 15,000 3 and 4 year olds in South Dakota were not enrolled in school.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021