Speaking Out! The latest on student test scores, the balanced budget amendment, and more (12/05/11)
New student test scores show achievement gaps persist
We are still letting students down, with only one third of fourth-graders reading as well as they should, according to new government data. Student test scores show that student underperformance remains unchanged, and that troubling achievement gaps persistent for children of color and children from low-income households.
The data, from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress, shows that 34 percent of fourth-graders read at or above “proficient” in federal test scores, about the same number as in 2009.
Distressingly, only 18 percent of students in low-income families scored “proficient” in the reading test, compared to 48 percent of their peers. And only 16 percent of Black students and 18 percent of Hispanic students read as well as they should, compared to 42 percent of White students.
You can read a Voices write-up of the findings online. Also check out a Voices report from last year that examined the 2009 national test scores compared to state test scores, making the case for aligning curriculum and standards across states.
A call to action on breastfeeding
Government data released recently shows that not enough mothers breastfeed as long as they should. As in the student test scores story above, this issue also shows some racial disparity.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child’s life and continued breastfeeding for at least the first year. Yet fewer than one in six mothers are exclusively breastfeeding their babies at the end of six months, according to the Surgeon General of the United States.
One racial group, Black, non-Hispanic women, showed a marked drop off in breastfeeding from these already low numbers. Only around 27 percent of Black mothers are still nursing at six months, compared to 43 percent for White mothers.
Voices has sounded a call to action on the issue of breastfeeding. We hope to promote education about the benefits of breastfeeding and greater support of nursing mothers. And educating fathers, encouraging community programs, raising national awareness, and making sure marketing for formula doesn’t attempt to displace breastfeeding can all help promote nursing.
Read more in a Voices issue brief.
Voices joins opposition to balanced budget amendment
In the coming weeks, the Senate will take up the balanced budget amendment. Voices recently joined some 281 community groups in opposing the proposed balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. While balancing the federal budget every year seems sensible at first blush, experts agree that it would lead to job losses and less government aid when it is needed most.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities quotes financial advisors who estimate that were a balanced budget amendment already in place, spending would need to be drastically cut, with the result being a doubled unemployment rate of 18 percent and an economic growth rate slashed by about 17 percent.
Although the balanced budget amendment was unlikely to get far to begin with, it’s very important that child advocates speak out against these kinds of measures. Government revenue often shrinks during hard times, as economic activity declines and people lose jobs. It’s at times like these that more government spending is needed, not less, in order to provide greater aid and prop up economic demand.
