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.

Kids Count 2013: Illinois Kids Lose Out on Pre-School and Child Care

play audio
Play

Thursday, February 14, 2013   

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The new Kids Count 2013 report, to be released this morning, concludes that great recession and state budget cuts are threatening the future of Illinois children, especially when it comes to preschool and child care. Voices for Illinois Children President Gaylord Gieseke (GEE-ski) and other child advocates are visiting the offices of new state lawmakers to see if they can get the focus back on Illinois kids. Image: Photo of a preschool class.

During his State of the Union Address, President Obama stressed the need for preschool for all children as a way to secure the nation's future. But a new study finds thousands of kids in Illinois are losing out on that opportunity. The Kids Count 2013 report says that Illinois used to be a nationwide leader in early childhood education opportunities, but not anymore.

Gaylord Gieseke, president of Voices for Illinois Children, said the last four years of budget cuts have shut out 20,000 children a year from state-funded preschool.

"That we are very concerned about. And we're hoping that in this session we may turn that around a bit."

President Obama may have helped the cause by pointing to studies that tie early childhood education to higher graduation rates and success as adults. Geiseke said cuts to child-care funding have also hurt Illinois families, at a time when they can least afford it. The poverty rate among Illinois children is stagnating at 20 percent.

Gieseke said she understands that lawmakers have difficult choices to make, but she warned that now is not the time to cut back on critical support for Illinois children.

"We're very concerned that there are more kids than ever in the state living in poverty," she said, "and the number of kids in the state has risen, so the need for pre-school has definitely not changed."

Even though the need for affordable child care has grown, she said, over the past two years many low-income parents have had to dig deeper to afford state-subsidized child care.

"For a single-parent family with two children at 150 percent of the poverty level, co-payments rose from $85 to $180 per month," she said.

Gieseke is also concerned about cuts in mental health programs and the Department of Children and Family Services budget. The one bright spot in the report: health insurance. It said that more than 96 percent of Illinois children now have access to health insurance.

The report, which will be released today at 10 a.m., can be found at www.voices4kids.org.




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