Maryland ranked in the middle of the pack when it comes to the overall well-being of children, but improvements are still needed, according to a report released Monday.
The 2024 KIDS COUNT Data Book ranked Maryland 22nd among states, one place lower than last year and three spots lower than the report from two years ago.
"Over the years, Maryland has made some investments … that have paid off in its own way," Nonso Umunna, director of the center's KIDS COUNT initiative, said in an interview. "Maryland is doing well, but there's still more work to do."
The report is prepared by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in conjunction with organizations across the county, like the Maryland Center of Economic Policy. It rates states in 16 wide-ranging areas, which are lumped together under the categories of health, education, economic well-being, and family and community support.
The education portion of this edition, the 35th, focused on student achievement. It showed that just 32% of fourth graders nationally were at or above proficiency in reading in 2022, the latest year for which numbers were available. That was down from the 34% who were proficient in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Scores were even worse for eighth grade math. Nationally, just 26% of eighth graders were at or above proficiency in math two years ago, down from 33% in 2019.
In Maryland, by comparison, just 31% of fourth graders performed at or above proficiency in reading and 25% of eighth-grade students were at or above proficiency in math.
Maryland was level with the nation, however, when it came to chronic absenteeism – when a student misses at least 10% of school days. For both the state and the nation, about one-third of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 school year.
One possible solution highlighted by the Kids Count report was community schools – something Maryland lawmakers voted this year to expand.
Community schools can offer programs for students and families such as behavioral health services, tutoring and employment opportunities. Creating more community schools was a priority for the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland this year.
Bills on community schools that were sponsored by Del. Jheanelle Wilkins (D-Montgomery), chair of the Black Caucus, and Sen. Alonzo Washington (D-Prince George's), will go into effect July 1. Community schools are also part of the expansive Blueprint for Maryland's Future education reform plan.
Another recommendation in the report was for state lawmakers is to draw down money from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, also known as ESSER. States have until Sept. 30 to apply for any unused pandemic-era relief money that can fund after-school and tutoring programs, mental health services and other needs.
Maryland's available amount left: $837.6 million.
"That's still a big chunk of money that can be used to spend on education" Umunna said. "We have to make investments in education. We have to make sure the Blueprint is fully implemented. We can't afford to back off those reforms."
When it comes to the Blueprint plan, Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-Lower Shore) said local school and county officials should be heard, especially to allow flexibility to fund it locally.
"Hearing from them on the challenges and realities they are facing … on how it could work for successful implementation," said Carozza, a member of the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee. "They are the ones to have to make it work in the daily lives of our students and our teachers and our school personnel."
Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said education should be applied through a wholistic approach such as mental health services for students in and outside the classroom and combat the state's teacher shortage.
"But the most important thing we can do right now is full implementation of the Blueprint," he said. "We have to make sure to fully implement it and secure the funding and making sure the counties are doing the same."
Looking at the data
In terms of overall well-being of children, Maryland has been ranked in the top half of the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia for the last three years.
A few 2022 Maryland statistics from the latest Kids Count report, and where the state ranked nationally:
- Sixth for children in households with income below the poverty line, with 155,000 such children, or 12%. For a family of two adults and two children, the federal poverty level would be an annual income below $29,678.
- 11th for children living with parents who lacked secure employment, defined as a parent without "regular, full-time, year-round employment." There were 294,000 Maryland children in that situation, or 22% of the total.
- 17th for children under age 19 without health insurance, with 60,000 children, or about 4% of the total.
- 37th for children who lived in households with high housing cost burdens, at with 402,000, or about 30% of the total. A high housing cost burden is defined as having more than 30% of monthly household pretax income consumed by items such as rent, mortgage payments and taxes.
The report offers a few recommendations for policymakers, school leaders and educators that include chronicling absenteeism data by grade, establishing a culture to pursue evidence-based solutions and incorporating intensive, in-person tutoring to align with the school curriculum.
"These are just a handful of steps we hope leaders will take to position the next generation to succeed, both in the classroom and eventually in the workforce," according to the report. "We must do more to help kids overcome the setbacks that affect their learning. This moment brings not only an opportunity but an imperative to do better."
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