Louisiana Ranks 49th in Child Welfare Survey
22/08/2011This should come to no surprise:
Louisiana made its annual dismal showing in the Kids Count Data Book, which ranks states on a list of indicators of overall child well-being such as children living in poverty, infant and child mortality, the rate of school dropout and births to teens. Louisiana ranked 49th nationwide, a ranking it’s received for at least 10 years. Neighboring Mississippi is No. 50, a ranking it’s held for at least a decade in Kids Count data, which has been released yearly by the Annie E. Casey Foundation for the past 22 years.
Meanwhile, Louisiana politicians are calling for even more cuts to social programs, state leaders are making efforts to gut public education, the state continues to get redder, and Governor Jindal is cruising to reelection. No one is holding state leaders responsible, and state Democrats don’t seem to budge unless the oil industry is involved. Louisiana is ripe for progressive leadership. Until it appears, Louisiana will remain at the bottom of such lists. To no surprise, of course.
