Nationwide — According to a national report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the state of Wisconsin has been ranked as the absolute worst state in the country when it comes to racial disparities for children. The study, entitled “Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children,” assessed 12 different factors in every state.
Among those factors were educational access, socioeconomic status, neighborhood context, and other factors that measure a child’s success in each stage of life, from birth to adulthood.
The average score of most states was a 345, but Wisconsin scored a 238 on its ability to prepare black children for educational and financial success. Wisconsin was, however, ranked 10th overall in its preparation for white children.
Here are some interesting things the study found:
* In Wisconsin, 70% of white children live in households above 200% of the poverty level ($47,700 for a family of four), but only 20% of black children live in similar households.
* While in middle school, white kids in Wisconsin are six times more likely to do well in 8th grade math than black students.
* The percentage of African-American high school kids in Wisconsin not graduating on time far exceeds other races.
* White children are nearly nine times more likely to graduate than their black high school peers in the state.
* As the kids move to higher education, white adults in the 25 to 29 age bracket are three times more likely to have an associate’s degree or higher than African-American or Latino students in Wisconsin.
As part of a diagnosis for the state of Wisconsin, the study emphasized the need to address the issue now since minorities will represent a majority of the nation’s children by 2018. The report notes that “children raised in economically challenged households and communities face tremendous challenges from day one.”
To download the complete report, visit:
www.aecf.org/KnowledgeCenter/Publications.aspx?pubguid=%7B5B863B11-62C7-41EC-9F7F-6D12125C4DC2%7D
About the Annie E. Casey Foundation
The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a 66-year old private charitable organization, dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States. The foundation’s primary mission is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families.
