Missouri improves Kids Count rank

The health, welfare and educational status of Missouri children improved over the 1990s compared with those in other states, according to a national study.

The annual Kids Count survey released Thursday ranks Missouri 26th nationally in its living conditions for children -- the highest ranking the state has received since such comparisons began in 1989.

In all previous rankings, Missouri had fallen somewhere between 30th and 35th nationally.

This year's report is based on 1999 statistics, the latest year for which figures were available in all states in all 10 of the survey's categories.

"I'm thrilled that we're doing better, but I hope we don't get comfortable about that because we still have a lot of room for improvement," said Cande Iveson, senior analyst with Jefferson City-based Citizens for Missouri's Children.

The annual survey is produced by the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private research and grant-making group that focuses on children.

Missouri's improvement is due partly to a sizable reduction in the number of teen-agers between 16 and 19 who are neither in school nor working.

In 1990, 11 percent of Missouri's teens were doing nothing, ranking the state 34th nationally in that statistic. In 1999, Missouri's percent of idle teens had dropped to 6 percent -- the eighth best nationally.

The improvement may partly be attributable to school accreditation standards that stress a reduction in dropout rates, said Orlo Shroyer, the state's deputy education commissioner.

Cape dropout rate

Cape Girardeau superintendent Dan Steska said the dropout rate has been a factor his district has been working to improve over the past several years.

From 1996 to 2000 the percentage of dropouts in the district has fluctuated between 3.1 and 7.4 percent.

During the 1999-2000 school year 91 students dropped out of school. That was 7.3 percent of the total student body.

Steska said the rate is getting better, but there is still room for improvement.

"The main success in this district, and the most effective, has been the alternative school," he said. "It has been extremely beneficial in giving kids another option."

Steska said that at the elementary level enhanced reading programs, like Accelerated Reader, have helped keep students in school.

"If you learn to read well at an early age you have less chance of dropping out later," he said.

Another contributing factor to the state's improved dropout rates may be the state's A-Plus Schools program, which took effect for the 1994-1995 school year, the state's deputy education commissioner said.

Schools participating in the program receive state grants for improvements. Students in those schools can receive a free ride to a community or vocational college if they maintain average grades, regular attendance and good citizenship in high school.

In Cape Girardeau County, Oak Ridge High School and Central High School are the only A-Plus schools.

Steska said the designation is helpful for school districts where a lot of students choose to attend two-year colleges after high school, but most of his students go on to four-year universities so it hasn't made a big impact on his district's dropout rate.

Birthrate improves

Missouri also improved during the 1990s in its teen birthrate and child death rate.

Although the percentage of children in poverty declined slightly, about 146,000 children remained at or near poverty, according to the report.

Charlotte Craig of the Cape Girardeau County Health Department said the teen birthrate in Cape Girardeau County has improved over the past several years.

"We think one of the primary reasons teen pregnancy rates have gone down in Cape County is because of the Teen Pregnancy Responsibility Network," Craig said.

The teen pregnancy network is a group of people from the Division of Family Services, Southeast Missouri State University, the county health departments and several other organizations that provide various educational programing about teen pregnancy to high school students.

"We have put together booklets and brought in speakers who have worked hard to address the issues of pregnancy to our target population of junior high and high school students," Craig said. "As a result, we have been able to present a program each school year called Postponing Sexual Involvement."

In 1990, 62 teens between the ages of 15 and 17 in Cape Girardeau County became pregnant. In 1999, only 23 did.

Because the survey was conducted before the recent economic recession and before state budget cuts to social services, its findings likely are rosy compared to the reality Missouri families are presently facing, said Peter De Simone, executive director of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare.

For example, a sampling of homeless shelters last year showed increased use by people with children, he said.

In the past year or so, "the lives of the poor in Missouri have gotten much harsher, and the state of Missouri has been in no position to help them," De Simone said.