2024 Kids Count Data Book shows Kentucky’s young people are struggling WEKU
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Kentucky’syoungpeoplearestrugglinginmanydifferentfields.That’saccordingtothe2024KidsCountDataBookfromtheAnnieE.CaseyFoundation.
Ineachdomainofchildwell-being,Kentuckyrankswithinthebottom10ofstatesforatleastonedataindicator.Thatincludespercentofchildreninpoverty,percentof8thgradersproficientinmath,percentofyouthwhoare overweightorobese,andtheteenbirthrate.
TerryBrooksistheexecutivedirectorofKentuckyYouthAdvocates.Hesaidthisisnotaveryoptimisticscenario.
“Werankinthehigh30’s,meaningwe’reoneofthebottom25%ofstatesinthenation.Again,whenyoulookatthosehardnumbers,it’shardtotakealotpositivityfromthisyear’sreport.”
Brookssaidheisleftwithmorequestionsthananswers.HehopestoseeimprovedeffortsfromlegislativeleadersinFrankfort.Forthefirsttimeinmorethan30years,thethemeiseducation.
Brookssaidthecommonwealth’schildrenarefallingbehind.
“Sevenoutof104th graderscannotreadatanati
