Fall 2011 | Speaking Up For Kids

Preident's Message

Every year too many people in Michigan drop out of school before getting a high school diploma - 16,000 youths, or 11 percent of students who should be graduating.

As bad as that troubling statistic is, if you drill down into the data - as Michigan's Children has done - you will find something even more disturbing:

The percentage of African American and Hispanic youths who would have graduated their senior year but dropped out is twice as high as the percentage of White kids.

Demographic data tell us that within a few decades, the mahority of children will be children of color. To turn Michigan's economy around we should do everything possible to help ALL children succeed.

There are things we can do to help:

Expanding opportunities of a 5th or 6th year of high school.
Create alternative pathways for shruggling students to recover credits and return to school after dropping out.
Provide more and better pre-school programs.
Ensure access to adequate health care.

The stakes are high for our children and our state's economic future. Dropouts earn less than half of college graduates, meaning they spend less in local businesses and pay fewer taxes. Now is the time for the Legislature to enact real reforms that will make Michigan a place where every child had the opportunity to thrive.

And now is the time for your voice to be heard. Help us help kids succeed. Our state's future succeeds depends on how well we prepare our children for the global economy.

Jack Kresnak, President and CEO, Michigan's Children

Changing Child Demographics Lead to New Race Project

Approimately 31 percent of Michigan's Children population is made up of children of color. Since the 200 Census, that percentage has grown four percent and experts predict it will be only a few decades until children of color make up the majority.

These are startling statistics that should set off alarm bells for Michigan residents and policymakers. With children of color soon to become the majority, these issues will become even more pronounced and problematic for our economic social future.

With that in mind, Michigan's Children added to our history of work in race equity by announcing this summer the Race Matters project. This project, which is generously funded by the Kellogg Foundation, has two Primary goals:

To rise public and policymaker awareness of racial and ethnic disparities; the importance of equal opportunity for all Michigan children; and public policy solutions to current inequities.
To increase civic engagement in state budget and public policy debates, with a focus on advocacy in the communities most affected, specifically low-income communities and commuities of color.

We will work with policymakers, advocacy partners, community leaders and parents to advance public policies aimed at eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in child well-being.

Our focus areas for 2011 are:

Increasing access to health services that result in happy mothers and children.
Increasing access to home and family support programs for low-income children and children/families of color.
Increasing access to high quality child care and preschool programs that are proven to resuce gaps in educational achievement.
Supporting multiple pathways to graduation, including alternative and community education options and partnerships between community college and workforce development agencies.
Providing incentives for schools to establish effective discipline alternatives and support truancy prevention and credit recovery initiatives that utilize strong community partners.

Did you know...

An African American baby born in Michigan is three times more likely to die before his first birthday than a White baby.
More than half of African American children and 44 percent of Hispanic/Latino kids under age 5 live in poverty, compared to 19 percent of White children.
Whire children have doctor visits twice as often as children of color, receive higher quality care and are less likely to suffer from chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes.
Racial and ethnic disparities in educational achievement in Michigan are among the worst in the nation, with African American and Hispanic youths more than twice as likely as White students to drop out of school. In Detroit, half of African American makes do not graduate high school in four years.

Race Matters Reports

The first three in a developing series of Race Matters reports are available now in our online library, including:

Michigan's Changing Demorgraphics and the Future Examines Census data, the growing population of people of color, and the impact of public policy on equity.
State-Funded Preschool Program Critical to Closing the Educational Achievement Gap Outlines early learning disparities among the races and makes the case for Michigan's Great Start Readiness Program to help overcome disparities.
Eliminating Disparities in Infant Mortality Critical to Healthy Start While deaths among White babies have dropped over the past decade, the same cannot be said for babies of color. This report explores the minority infant mortality rates and barriers to improvement, and offers potential policy solutions.

Youth Voice Events

April 25 KidSpeak at Governor's Summit

Michigan's Children recently hosted three youth events, continuing our mission to bring the voices of young people to policymakers.

On April 25, Michigan's Children ws invited to host KidSpeak: Youth Voice in Education Reform as part of the Governor's Education Summit on the campus of Michigan State University.

Students from Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Jackson, Muskegon and Houghton Lake/Roscommon shared their first-hand experiences of lack of basic resources in public schools, barriers to graduation for those in the juvenile justice system, credit recovery programs for drop outs, challenges facing teen parents and youths in foster care, and physical and mental health support services in schools.

The Governor's Education Summit was co-hosted by the Michigan Department of Education, the Education Alliance of Michigan, and the Michigan Foundation for Education Leadership.

Olatungl Bledsoe Blue Babies speaks about the challenges

he faced as a foster child and how he learned to take care of himself

May 11 KidSpeak at Capitol

On May 11, the annual statewide KidSpeak was held at the state Capitol in Lansing. The theme was Youth Speak Out: Achieving Success from Cradle to Career.

Approimately 16 students from across the state spent the day meeting with state legislators, state department leaders and other state-level private nonprofit administrators to discuss education barriers and pathways to graduation. Barriers identified by the youths included inadequate school funding, teen parent supports, free or low-cost credit recovery programs for transient youths, access to mental health programs, and the need for college access programs targeting specific populations such as youths who have aged out of foster care.

Two students from the Ingham County Native American Outreach

program talked with policymakers at the May 11 KidSpeak

about Native American sterotypes in the media.

May 23 President's Roundtable at Vista Maria

Voices of Michigan students reached the White House with a special forum on May 23 hosted by Michigan's Children, Vista Maria, the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Comcast Foundation.

The "100 Roundtables with Young Americans" Discussions were Held in Nearly 400 schools in 47 states, Washington D.C. and Guam. But only 100 were selected for a visit from the White House. Christine White, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Michigan Executive Director for the Farm Service Angency, attended the Dearborn Heights event on behalf of the White House.

"The president considers young Americans to be one of his highest priorities," she said.

Thirteen students were selected to participate from two Dearborn Heights schools, Ciara B. Ford Academy and Vista Meadows. The discussions, which concluded in June, were aimed at hearing young peoples' opinions regarding education and public policy. Michigan's students expressed concerns about large class sizes, school safety, adequate transportation, and cuts to extra-curricular activities that keep kids out of trouble.

"Part of the reason kids get into trouble is because they have nothing else to do after school," said one student.

Students from two charter schools at Vista Maria in Dearborn Heights

participated in one of only 100 conversations with the White House

about education and public policy.