New data shows most Kentucky kids are not academically prepared for a successful future.

The latest Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows that in 2022, 79% of the state's eighth graders were behind in math, and 69% of fourth graders were behind in reading.

The number of young children not in school has also risen.

Terry Brooks, Ph.D - executive director of the Kentucky Youth Advocates - said lawmakers and community leaders need to pay attention to, and get involved in, remedying what he calls an education crisis.

"Thirty-four years ago I was a principal," said Brooks, "and I remembered when public education was a common bond. Today, public education is the most divisive policy arena in Frankfort."

Federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief grants - which expire this fall - have been used by districts to support digital learning, and pay school counselors, mental health professionals, and hire more staff.

Kentucky has received a total of $2 billion in federal funds.

Leslie Boissiere - vice president for external affairs for the Casey Foundation - said that compared with peer countries, the U.S. is not equipping its children with the problem-solving skills future employers will need.

"Our economy is propelled by a prepared workforce," said Boissiere. "And so, in order for our economy to work well, it's important that we prepare young people with the skills that they need - so that they are entering the workforce prepared."

Brooks said poverty, physical and mental health, childhood trauma, and other factors, impact a student's ability to enter a classroom free from distractions and ready to learn - particularly among students of color, and kids in immigrant families and low-income families.

"Do young people have food security and stable housing?" said Brooks. "Do they have wrap around supports for their behavioral and mental health? As important as classroom pedagogy and methods and curriculum are, those non-cognitive factors actually are even more important. "

Advocates say policies such as increasing access to low- or no-cost school meals, expanding access to reliable internet, tutoring, and other community supports can better help kids who have fallen behind.

Missouri has stepped up to fight childhood hunger by providing food aid over the summer for kids who rely on school meals for nutrition.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's SuN Bucks program, launched this year, provides eligible families with a one-time, $120 EBT card per child to help cover grocery costs during the summer months.

Christine Woody, food security policy manager for the nonprofit Empower Missouri, said she is happy the program is available for families. However, she noted Missouri state departments involved in distributing the benefits had delays, meaning kids needing summer food aid did not receive it until fall this year.

"I'm just grateful that Missouri did it and I think the department had a lot of lessons learned, so 2025 is going to be a whole different experience," Woody asserted. "I'm hopeful that the kids will actually get the benefits in the summer when their families actually need it."

Families have 122 days to use the one-time SuN Bucks benefit after receiving their card. Research shows almost half of the children in Missouri rely on school meals for nutrition.

The USDA recently announced an additional $1.3 billion investment to strengthen local food systems. Woody explained Missouri's SuN Bucks program is based on the federal P-EBT initiative, which aimed to support children who lost access to meals during COVID-19 school closures.

She added her organization and others led a grassroots effort to get Missouri on board.

"Praise the Lord, they agreed to fund and run the program and there's funding to run it again in 2025," Woody emphasized.

The Show-Me State could receive more than $92 million in an economic boost generated from the SuN Bucks initiative.


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Five years ago, Minnesota established a program to bolster well-being metrics for children of color and young Native American kids. Today, fund recipients are sharing their progress.

The Community Solutions for Healthy Child Development Grants are in their second round of funding following what advocates called a successful pilot beginning in 2019. Given Minnesota's long-standing racial disparities, community sites making use of the aid hope the kids they serve find stability as they grow.

Brook LaFloe, associate director of the Montessori American Indian Childcare Center in Roseville, said they have been able to do things like hire a social worker, which helps build trust.

"Especially with our people's history with the boarding school era, it still lingers in some of our older generations, right?" LaFloe noted. "That mistrust in school, that mistrust in giving their children up to other people."

LaFloe added her team has maintained full enrollment for key services, including a program catering to children prenatal to 3 years old. Organizations such as Children's Defense Fund Minnesota pushed for permanent funding after the pilot phase. The state health department said current grants are funded through 2027, but it is unclear what might happen down the road with future deficits forecast.

Near the White Earth Reservation in northwestern Minnesota, the nonprofit All Nations Rise carries out early childhood programming through a cultural lens.

Beth Ann Dodds, program manager for the group, said they have used the grant money to offer an Indigenous parent leadership class.

"They're learning more about themselves, which you need to have -- that self-awareness -- in order to make some positive changes," Dodds observed. "Whether that's with yourself, with that's with your family, or whether that's in your community. "

She added the curriculum has reached nearly two dozen parents, helping more than 70 children.

The grants have also helped fund efforts at Grandmother's House, a language and culture immersion program through Fond du Lac Tribal College in Cloquet.

Persia Erdrich, lead teacher for the program, said she has seen firsthand how outreach connects younger Native people with their tribal identity, aiding them in the development process. She sees the positive effects through her son.

"I started as a parent in this program, and his first words were in Ojibwe, his first sentences," Erdrich recounted. "He's bilingual now."

By Vanessa Davidson / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State NewsLab-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

Ohio Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) in August proposed the STORK Act, which would allow expecting families to claim their unborn children as dependents on their income taxes starting the year the child is conceived.

Click says every dollar makes a difference for expecting families.

"You start planning and preparing ahead of time," he said. "The hospital won't even let you take them home without a car seat. So, you have to get that car seat, you get a crib, you get a bassinet, you get a pack-and-play, and you get all the little toys for a newborn, and you just stock up before they're born to get ready for that child."

However, some raise concern that the proposal could lead toward the recognition of fetal personhood, which could affect abortion rights within Ohio.

Danielle Firsich, director of public policy for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, said Click's proposal acts as a continued attempt to attack abortion rights following the passage of Issue 1 in 2023.

Firsich said there have been several other proposals that have tested fences and sought out loopholes to get around state codifications of reproductive rights, including similar bills proposed in Wisconsin, Florida, Kansas and Kentucky.

"We know that this argument - that someone can have tax credits for an unborn child - directly correlates with the concept that if you're receiving some sort of tax benefit, or tax credit, you are thereby able to be recognized as a person and be granted rights as such," Firsich said. "This is a movement that has come, largely, especially after the Dobbs decision."

Given Click's extensive history of pro-life advocacy - with one of his past proposals declaring fetal personhood from conception - Firsich believes the STORK Act could have possible ulterior motives.

Click denied such claims and called such rhetoric an "extremist attack."

"This bill recognizes the expenses that parents put out," said Click. "It doesn't say anything about the baby... this tax credit has no power to overturn a constitutional amendment."

Jessie Hill, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University who specializes in reproductive rights in Ohio, believes the proposal will have little impact on abortion rights.

"I just don't think that this is something that is going to really, in the end, make a big difference in light of Issue 1 still being there," Hill said. Issue 1 is "part of our constitution, and our constitution is supreme over state law," she added.

However, Hill believes concerns about the proposal aren't baseless. She pointed out that it's not clear whether parents would still be able to receive tax benefits for an unborn child even if the pregnancy isn't carried to term.

Firsich argues that Click should demonstrate his commitment to Ohio families by expanding paid family leave and offering affordable childcare.

"That would mean real change for pregnant people and for parents in the state of Ohio, not something like this," Firsich said.

The STORK Act is currently being reviewed by the Ohio House Ways and Means Committee.


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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