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More Kansas children are living in poverty and those who already are have seen their conditions worsen.
That is the result of the KIDS COUNT study, which was released on Tuesday by the Kansas Action for Children (KAC) and The Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The study concluded that approximately 45 percent of Kansas school children are participating in free and reduced lunches and 40 percent are growing up in low-income (23.08 percent) or poverty-stricken (17.33 percent) households.
In addition, one in 10 Kansas children are currently not covered by health insurance.
“As more working families struggle to make ends meet, more children are relying on free and reduced school lunches and more children are growing up without health coverage,” said Shannon Cotsoradis, president of KAC.
In Crawford County, the study showed that 21.9 percent of children under the age of 18 are living below the poverty level. That ranks low among similar counties in the state, where the average was 14.88 percent.
The county also had 59.01 percent of its public school students participating in free or reduced lunches. That was 14 points higher than similar counties and 13 points higher than the state average.
“This data is really good data because it streamlines some indicators that tells us more than what’s on the surface,” said Monica Murnan, director of the Family Resource Center in Pittsburg. “We think we kind of know what is going on in the area, these are cold, hard facts.”
Similar counties in the study included, Butler, Montgomery, Harvey and Miami counties. Those counties were considered “semi-urban” counties.
Cherokee County had 24.60 percent of children living below the poverty level while 59.84 percent of students were taking free and reduced lunches.
In Bourbon County, which was considered similar to Cherokee County in the survey, had 24.20 percent of children living below the poverty level and 60.37 percent of students are taking free and reduced lunches.
“This gives us the opportunity to really stop and look at our house,” Murnan said.
However, the study did show that, despite economic challenges that can be more prevalent in rural communities, children in rural Kansas are on par academically with students in urban areas of the state.
“We know when children — regardless of where they live — grow up with the resources they need, they are far less likely to continue the trend toward poverty,” Cotsoradis said.
Crawford County showed that over 92 percent of freshman in the 2005-06 school year graduated in 2009. That is higher than similar counties and the state average. The county also trended higher in reading proficiency of fifth grade students and all-day kindergarten offered.
“It shows that education has been, for the last 10 years or so, has really been driving,” Murnan said. “Our schools here have done a great job in doing that.”
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140
More Kansas children are living in poverty and those who already are have seen their conditions worsen.
That is the result of the KIDS COUNT study, which was released on Tuesday by the Kansas Action for Children (KAC) and The Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The study concluded that approximately 45 percent of Kansas school children are participating in free and reduced lunches and 40 percent are growing up in low-income (23.08 percent) or poverty-stricken (17.33 percent) households.
In addition, one in 10 Kansas children are currently not covered by health insurance.
“As more working families struggle to make ends meet, more children are relying on free and reduced school lunches and more children are growing up without health coverage,” said Shannon Cotsoradis, president of KAC.
In Crawford County, the study showed that 21.9 percent of children under the age of 18 are living below the poverty level. That ranks low among similar counties in the state, where the average was 14.88 percent.
The county also had 59.01 percent of its public school students participating in free or reduced lunches. That was 14 points higher than similar counties and 13 points higher than the state average.
“This data is really good data because it streamlines some indicators that tells us more than what’s on the surface,” said Monica Murnan, director of the Family Resource Center in Pittsburg. “We think we kind of know what is going on in the area, these are cold, hard facts.”
Similar counties in the study included, Butler, Montgomery, Harvey and Miami counties. Those counties were considered “semi-urban” counties.
Cherokee County had 24.60 percent of children living below the poverty level while 59.84 percent of students were taking free and reduced lunches.
In Bourbon County, which was considered similar to Cherokee County in the survey, had 24.20 percent of children living below the poverty level and 60.37 percent of students are taking free and reduced lunches.
“This gives us the opportunity to really stop and look at our house,” Murnan said.
However, the study did show that, despite economic challenges that can be more prevalent in rural communities, children in rural Kansas are on par academically with students in urban areas of the state.
“We know when children — regardless of where they live — grow up with the resources they need, they are far less likely to continue the trend toward poverty,” Cotsoradis said.
Crawford County showed that over 92 percent of freshman in the 2005-06 school year graduated in 2009. That is higher than similar counties and the state average. The county also trended higher in reading proficiency of fifth grade students and all-day kindergarten offered.
“It shows that education has been, for the last 10 years or so, has really been driving,” Murnan said. “Our schools here have done a great job in doing that.”
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140
