Report Shines Light on Racial Disparities for FL Children
Posted April 3, 2014 09:31 am
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - In just four years, children of color are expected
to outpace the number of white children in the United
States, according to the Census Bureau. A new report
from the Annie E. Casey Foundation asks if those
children will be prepared to succeed in their classrooms
and beyond.
The report indicates Florida's Latino children are doing better than their peers in other states, with an overall ranking of sixth nationwide.
Susan Weitzel, director of Florida's KIDS COUNT, says it's important that children of all backgrounds have an equal chance to thrive.
"What we want to do is make sure that the youth today get the supports that they need, focusing on the fact that their ethnicity, their economic level, utilizes everything we know about their culture," says Weitzel.
The report ranks Florida's African American children in 28th place in the nation for their progress on a dozen indicators of future success, from reading proficiency to family poverty. On the same indicators, white children in Florida rank 29th.
Links:
•
Annie E. Casey Foundation
•
Read the
report: Race for Results
Laura Speer, an associate director at the Annie E.
Casey Foundation, says improving access to early
childhood education and parent resources is an economic
issue, for the state and the country.
"They're going to be the future workforce of the United
States," Speer explains. "So, there's a really critical
imperative to look at this now and to see what we can do
to improve it."
Weitzel also notes that the lines between cultures are
blurring - or as she puts it, "In Florida, simply
recognizing that this changing demography is not as
straightforward. We have growing [numbers of]
multicultural children."
The report recommends using the data to help close the
racial achievement gap with policies and programs that
create the greatest impact for children of color. It
also notes that if the U.S. had closed the racial
achievement gap in 1998, the gross domestic product 10
years later would have been $525 billion higher.
Photos/graphics, layout added by the Observer
Photo: Annie E. Casey Foundation