2016 Data from Annual Kids Count Survey Shows Need to Stand Up For Students Greater Than Ever

Maine drops 5 places from last year to 17th in the overall rankings, 15th in education rankings

AUGUSTA, ME – Stand Up for Students, the campaign working to bring tax fairness and equal educational opportunity to all Maine students is urging Mainers to look at the latest figures for Maine in the annual Kids Count Data Book, released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Nationally, many states are doing better, thanks to federal and state programs aimed at increasing child wellbeing. Maine is not one of them. As illustrated on Maine Children’s Alliance website, of the top five states, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, three of them are in New England. (And Vermont is in the top 10.)

Maine ranks 17th overall, falling five places from last year. The overall rank is a composite index derived from the combined data across the four domains: (1) Economic Well-Being, (2) Education, (3) Health and (4) Family and Community.

Maine places 15th in the nation in education rankings, 24th in 4th grade reading scores and 18th in 8th grade math scores. Perhaps worst of all, Maine ranks 26th in the nation in young children not attending school.

“We know young children benefit from high-quality pre-K programs and research has consistently told us that pre-K programs help kids and save society money in the long run, but Maine has fallen woefully behind other nearby states in the number of kids enrolled in such programs,” said John Kosinski, Campaign Manager for Stand Up for Students. “This campaign will provide schools the resources they need to start or expand pre-K programs for more students.”

Contact:       

Felicia Knight

Felicia@KnightCanney.com

(207) 831 5676