Economic hardship hurts Arkansas kids
Economic hardship during childhood is the leading Adverse Childhood Event (ACE) in Arkansas. It is associated with learning and behavioral problems for students early on and can lead to health […]
Arkansas shows nation’s largest drop in uninsured, but challenges remain
As Arkansans rightly celebrate a remarkable decrease in the percentage of the state’s uninsured adults, it’s a good time to reflect on how our state accomplished this feat. It wasn’t […]
Common Core in Arkansas, illustrated
A group of minority, middle- and low-income parents met in Star City early in June. The subject was Common Core. Most of the parents knew very little about it. […]
Monthly revenue report for July
Net general revenues came in below expectations (by $9.8 million or 2.4 percent) and fell short of last year’s numbers (by $7.1 million or 1.7 percent) according to today’s report […]
Support free meals for Arkansas students
This is a special post from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance The federal government is offering to pay for breakfast and lunch for all […]
What would it take to be number one?
Every year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation releases the Kids Count Data Book, a comprehensive, 50-state look at child welfare. Arkansas made gains in health coverage and education over the […]
Poverty guidelines are out of date
Poverty guidelines play two important roles, they are a scorecard for how we are doing as a state, and they help determine eligibility for dozens of programs that low-income Arkansans […]
Investments in health, education paying off for Arkansas kids
Arkansas made gains in health coverage and education over the last year, but the child poverty rate went up to 29 percent. Those ups and downs are consistent with national […]
New report confirms AACF findings on school discipline
The Office of Education Policy (OEP) at the University of Arkansas shared a new report on school discipline with the State Board of Education this morning. The report’s findings are […]
Pre-K, not prisons
They’ve done it again. The legislature provided funding for prisons in this special session. About $6.3 million was funded this time to open 600 prison beds. That’s about $10,500 a […]