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Plight Of Wisconsin Children Worsens

The Wisconsin Council on Children and Family is out with its third annual “WisKids Count” book. This year’s edition, titled “A Portrait of Child Education in Wisconsin by School District,” focuses on Wisconsin’s public schools. It provides baseline data about each school district in Wisconsin for 1993-94, the year the state imposed revenue controls and salary caps.

“The WisKids Count Data Book will be a valuable resource in monitoring the impact of the revenue caps imposed by the legislature,” WEAC President Terry Craney said at a news conference unveiling the book. “The document will allow us to track problems we feel will sweep across school districts throughout the state over the next few years as a result of the revenue limits and teacher salary caps.”

The book tracks statistics including dropout rates, test scores, teacher salaries, tuition costs and staffing ratios. It addresses diversity, the relationship between poverty and school performance and trend data indicating child well-being. Following are some of the findings:

The Plight of Wisconsin's children worsens

  • One of every four children in Wisconsin public schools is so poor that he or she qualifies for free or reduced-price lunches.
  • Reports of child abuse in Wisconsin grew from 30.1 per 1,000 in 1990 to 36.8 per 1,000 in 1993, an increase of 22%.
  • Substantiated cases of child abuse in Wisconsin grew from 11.2 per 1,000 children in 1990 to 14.4 per 1,000 in 1993, an increase of 28.6%.
  • The number of Wisconsin children in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program grew from 5.3 per 1,000 in 1991 to 14.9 per 1,000 in 1995, an increase of 181%.

Juvenile crime increases

  • The number of arrests of juveniles in Wisconsin grew from 81.3 per 1,000 in 1991 to 101.7 per 1,000 juveniles in 1994, an increase of 25.1%.
  • The number of arrests of juveniles in Wisconsin for the violent crimes of murder, manslaughter, robbery, and forcible rape grew from 1.6 per 1,000 in 1991 to 2.0 per 1,000 juveniles in 1994, an increase of 25%.

Yet, Wisconsin schools continue to excel

  • Wisconsin has the lowest dropout rate in the nation.
  • Wisconsin public school students consistently score at or near on the top on various national standardized tests.

Copies of the book are available from the council for $15 by calling 608-284-0580.