Arizona is 5th WORST state in child well-being (Phoenix: home, preschool)

[JayManne]

[mod cut-- baiting]
Arizona kids' well-being ranks 46th

You can read the publication itself here. It's free, well-written, and has lots of info-graphics, charts, and other entertaining ways of displaying the information.

http://www.aecf.org/KnowledgeCenter/Publications.aspx?pubguid={68E8B294-EDCD-444D-85E4-D1C1576830FF}

The rankings around Arizona go like so

42 Arkansas
43 South Carolina
44 Texas
45 Alabama
46 Arizona
47 Louisiana
48 Nevada
49 New Mexico
50 Mississippi

I find it interesting that geographically, NM and NV are ranked very similar to AZ, but CO and UT have much higher rankings. If it was just the rural-factor, then UT and CO would be in the same boat.

Meanwhile, the voters themselves are doing their best to try and actually raise their own taxes to pay for more education in the state:
Education tax hike goes back on the ballot

But Ken Bennett and the republicans won't have that!
Bennett appealing decision on Arizona tax increase

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[Ponderosa]

Huge native American population, huge illegal immigrant population. It's not an excuse but it is an explanation. White kids have it good here. Let's focus on that.

[jdahunt]

Knowing the following about them I don't think we need to pay attention to anything further they have to say.

"Since 2001 the Annie E. Casey Foundation has pumped at least $1,705,500 into the ACORN network"

[stephen431]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

White kids have it good here. Let's focus on that.

They're lagging the national average too.

The report does highlight one potential area of improvement.... Preschool.

Preschool attendance is weighted pretty heavily on that report, and for good reasons. We've had multiple long-term studies showing the impact of preschool on child development, graduation rates, higher education, and even long-term adult success in areas ranging from reduced criminal activity and/or drug use, less welfare participation, increased income, more stable family relationships, etc, etc.

This has been backed up by the Perry Preschool project, and the Child-Parent Center Education Program. Both are very long-term studies tracking children who did and did not attend preschool. The Perry project is still tracking the same 125 participants 40 years later. The CPCEP is still tracking 1000 participants 25 years later.
Lasting Benefits of Preschool Programs - Child & Adolescent Development: Overview

Unfortunately, it takes around 15 years to show positive results from the start of the program (there are improvements to early reading tests, but they're temporary). Even though it's relatively cheap to provide preschooling, it's probably not cheap enough for Arizona.

[JayManne]

[mod cut-- reference to deleted material] Arizona's bad education system isn't really up for debate -- even republicans, tea-baggers, conservatives, and business leaders have publicly panned Arizona's education system for decades now.

Wasn't there a Goldwater Institute report just about three months ago, showing how bad Arizona's education budget allocation system is? I can't remember the name of it.

This is one of those problems where state politics is really hurting everyone universally. At some point, Arizona is just going to become synonymous with bad education for children, and that will hurt immigration from other states eventually.

[stasi_crystals]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Huge native American population, huge illegal immigrant population. It's not an excuse but it is an explanation. White kids have it good here. Let's focus on that.

Although I am little bit offended by this I would have to agree with having a large Native American population. I went to school on the reservation and now live and go to school in the valley(love it). Anyway my friends and cousins back home are in a little bit of a struggle because some of the schools did'nt make ayp and might be shutting down, feel bad but cant argue because most of the youth out there are influnced by alcohalism, drugs, teen pregnancy and end up dropping out. I just wish there could be some kind of program where they could live and go to school in the cities, besides boarding school, to get a better education. Would totally fund that! Very few of us continue after hs.

[shiphead]

nom nom nom.

"In fact, Arizona ranks 46 overall in the report's four categories: education, economic well-being, health, and family and community."

The biggest shocker with this city, was the giant billboard by shamrock factory, pushing an image that we have a child prostitution problem in Phoenix. We aren't talking 17 year old teens either...

As much as I hate to be generic, the illegal immigration problem in K-6 is ridiculous. First week of school the 3rd grader would be there, the next month he was gone.... Seriously? Reservations... well.. I've worked on the res for a year or so and stasi is pretty much on the money. Most of my Navajo friends left the res asap.
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[oldtrader]

All part of the problem, is Arizona is the 48th lowest expenditure for schools, and this puts them right down near the bottom on the quality of the schools.

The education system in Arizona, is what makes Arizona have one of the worst economies in the nation, with major companies staying away from or leaving the state.

There is a thread that shows how Arizona is down about the bottom of state education spending, and even links to major employer in Tuscon saying they are considering expanding in other places and if the education system had been this bad a few years ago they may not even be here.

The cheap education system in the state, is an example of what the Arizona people think of kids in this state.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by oldtrader

All part of the problem, is Arizona is the 48th lowest expenditure for schools, and this puts them right down near the bottom on the quality of the schools.

The education system in Arizona, is what makes Arizona have one of the worst economies in the nation, with major companies staying away from or leaving the state.

There is a thread that shows how Arizona is down about the bottom of state education spending, and even links to major employer in Tuscon saying they are considering expanding in other places and if the education system had been this bad a few years ago they may not even be here.

The cheap education system in the state, is an example of what the Arizona people think of kids in this state.

Are we speaking of Raytheon again? I want people to take a drive on the N101 from the 202 junction and you can point out how many software companies have come to the Phoenix area.

[~PaperMoon~]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Huge native American population, huge illegal immigrant population. It's not an excuse but it is an explanation. White kids have it good here. Let's focus on that.

Your point would have been better if you had left the last 2 sentences out. Why just focus on or care about white kids? Maybe that's why the system is so bad, because others say let's just focus on white kids.