How to fix education

Catch one of our child advocates in a PBS interactive segment on how to fix education. Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Voices member Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, explains how reading is key.

“The biggest problem in American education…

Happy birthday, Affordable Care Act!

Child advocates are celebrating the 1 year anniversary of the passage of health reform, which will help millions of children throughout the country get better, more affordable care. Although most of the law doesn’t take effect for a few years,…

Protect Social Security!

Social Security has been targeted for cuts by many in Congress, as well as President Obama’s debt commission. We care because Social Security isn’t just a retirement program; it’s also the largest federal program for children. Millions of children and…

Texas targets kids for cuts; children there at disadvantage

Paul Krugman has a good column in the New York Times about how low government spending in Texas simply means low investment in children there. ”Who will bear the brunt of these cuts? America’s children,” Krugman concludes. New research by one of…

Mother jailed for sending kids to better school

ABC News reports that an Ohio mother has been jailed for sending her children to a good school. Kelley Williams-Bolar had been sending her daughters to a school regarded as better than her own, but located in a different school…

Congress quietly considers the possibility of state bankruptcy

We’ve written before about the financial strains that state budgets have felt in the past few years and the potential impact on children.  The recession has meant reduced economic activity and thus reduced tax income for state governments.  Since states…

No car and no supermarket nearby

Some 2.3 million American households lack both a car and a grocery store within walking distance.  These families likely struggle getting healthy, affordable food.  Many of them have to rely on pricier and less healthy sources like convenience stores.  Areas…

“No one goes hungry in America,” and other myths

In the “5 myths about hunger in America,” the Washington Post shows that hunger is a much more serious problem than some Americans realize.  More than 17 million families live at risk of hunger in this country, and…

Help Hungry Children This Holiday

As many of us sit down to hearty Thanksgiving meals this holiday, and look across the table and give thanks for many things including our well-fed children, please remember that one in four children in America is struggling with hunger.

Congress…

Texas considering Medicaid pull out

Texas is considering ending its Medicaid program, which helps millions of families afford care for their children.  More than 2.3 million children in Texas rely on Medicaid, and another half million children are enrolled in the Texas Children’s Health Insurance…