About The Lee County ledger. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1978-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2019)
Page 2A,The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, June 19,2019 NOVvl OPEN RIMY $ SATURDAY Por 3uHe 7:30 a.rvi Lo 11:30 a.rv\ raanYitmiJcitzm GflnscraiDOss ana EffiGCExEDoaBe Coinwell Blueloeiiy CFaim /ash Before Eating tyeotyia, 229-%%l-1529 229-93%-9496 304 Cornwell Rd., Americus Off Hwy 19 lust Above Smithville Angela Wenzel commissioned as a second lieutenant Special to the Ledger In ceremonies held May 3 at the University of North Georgia, 58 graduating cadets were awarded commissions as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army or Geor gia National Guard. Angela K. Wenzel of Albany, GA, earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing and commis sioned in the National Guard Army Nurse Corps. Wenzel’s guard ian is Tina Coalson. The new officer gradu ated from Baconton Community Charter School in Baconton, ■ Thinking about college? 14 Professional Certificate Programs 14 Associate Degrees 29 Bachelor’s Degrees 11 Master’s Degrees 1 Educational Specialist Degree Albany State T T • */• University System of Georgiat Excellence is the standard. 504 College Drive | Albany, GA 31705 www.asurams.edu GA in 2014. UNG, with more than 130 years of experience educating future lead ers, is one of only six senior military colleges in the country. For more information about the university’s Corps of Cadets, visit http://ung. edu/military-college- admissions/index.php. Positioned in the fastest-growing region of the state, the Univer sity of North Georgia comprises five cam puses united by a single mission focused on aca demic excellence and academic and co-cur- ricular programs that develop students into leaders for a diverse and global society. The University of North Georgia is a Univer sity System of Georgia leadership institution and is The Military College of Georgia. With more than 19,000 students, the University of North Georgia is the state’s sixth-largest public university. The university offers more than 100 programs of study ranging from certificate and associate degrees to professional doctoral programs. Georgia ranks 38th in the Nation for Child Well-Being Special to the Ledger After 30 years, the KIDS COUNT® Data Book continues to pro vide the most compre hensive annual report on child well-being in the United States When the Annie E. Casey Foundation released the first-ever annual KIDS COUNT® Data Book in 1990, Georgia ranked 48th in the nation for child and family well-being. Ac cording to the 30th edi tion of the Data Book, released today, Georgia ranks 38th. The KIDS COUNT® Data Book looks at Georgia across four domains—education, economic well-being, health, and family and community—to measure progress and identify areas where this state struggles. The 2019 report reveals that over the past 30 years Georgia has become a better place for children to grow up stronger, healthier, and safer. Children also are better prepared for school, because enrollment is up in early education systems. However, eco nomic well-being con tinues to sag, as more children and families live in poverty. “If you want to peer into Georgia’s future, you need only measure the health and well being of our children,” said Robert W. Wood ruff Foundation Presi dent P. Russell Hardin. “The annual KIDS COUNT data is our report card and should be required reading for everyone who cares about our state. It is encouraging to see that our state’s ranking has improved, but as long as one in five children are born into poverty, we have more work to do to ensure that all of Geor gia’s children have the opportunity to succeed.” Georgia Division of Family and Children Services Director Tom C. Rawlings agrees that Georgia has made great strides, because investments—from early care and learn ing and education, to child welfare and health care—coupled with sound policies, public and private partner ships, and collaboration around statewide priori ties are moving families from a place of depen dency and need toward self-sufficiency. “Our role,” said Rawlings, “is to iden tify the most vulner able families in every community—whether they’re coping with issues of child abuse and neglect or strug gling with unemploy ment and the need to develop work skills to get into the work force. Working with our partners, our ultimate goal is to raise these families up to a point where they can thrive. Economic development is truly what we’re all about—ensuring that our children are well educated to become our workforce of the future, and ensuring that those vulnerable families are strong enough to get over the stresses of their lives and contribute to their communities.” Georgia ranks 34th in education Significantly more children in Georgia are proficient in reading and math today than 30 years ago. Two-thirds of Georgia children scored below proficient in fourth grade reading in 2017, an improvement from the three-quarters who scored below proficient in 1992. And 69 percent of children scored below proficient in eighth grade math in 2017, compared with 86 percent who scored be low proficient in 1990. The percentage of Georgia’s children not attending pre-school has decreased from 60 percent to 45 percent since 1990. However, the significant increase in population in Georgia means that, although a higher percentage of children are attending pre-school, the total number not attending is higher in 2019 than it was 30 years ago. The proportion of Georgia’s youth, age 16 to 19, who are not in school and not work ing, has dropped from 11 percent in 1990 to 9 percent today. Georgia has made pos itive strides in educa tion outcomes over the past 30 years, a result of increased investment in our education sys tems. The data indicate that continuing those investments is critical to maintaining our positive trajectory. Georgia ranks 40th in economic well-being Today 28 percent of Georgia’s children are living in homes where no parent has full-time, year-round employ ment, compared with 30 percent in 1990. And yet more than 500,000 of Georgia’s children live in poverty. At 21 percent, Georgia’s child poverty rate is higher than it was in 1990. More children are living in homes with a high housing cost burden, because fami lies are spending more than 30 percent of their household income on housing. In 1990, 27 percent of Georgia’s children lived in house holds with this burden, compared with 30 percent—750,000 chil dren—today. Georgia ranks 34th in health In 1990, 13 percent of Georgia’s children did not have health insurance. Today only 7 percent lack coverage. Still, Georgia’s child uninsured rate remains higher than the national average of 5 percent. Georgia’s child and teen death rate was 52 per 100,000 in 1990. Today that rate is 28 per 100,000, which indicates improvements in safety and health care over the past three decades. And according to the most recent data, fewer teens abuse drug and alcohol, cut in half from 6 percent in 1990 to 3 percent today. Despite these positive health trends, Georgia’s low birthweight rate has increased significantly since 1990, at a 30-year high of 9.9 percent. Georgia ranks 38th in Family and Community In 2017, 13 percent of Georgia’s children were growing up in fami lies where the head of household did not have a high school diploma, down from 27 percent in 1990. Georgia’s teen birth rate has also significantly decreased during the past 30 years. Georgia had one of the highest teen birth rates in the nation in 1990 at 76 per 1,000 females age 15 to 19. Today, Georgia’s rate is 22 per 1,000, closing in on the national average of 19 per 1,000. Despite these improve ments, more of Geor gia’s children—13 per cent, more than 330,000 children—are living in high-poverty areas today than 11 percent in 1990. “The data confirm that Georgia’s invest ments in children and families are paying off,” said Georgia Family Connection Partnership Executive Director Gaye Smith.
