California children - Status report 2011

The 2011 California Report Card breaks new ground by providing The Children’s Agenda, which details the top ten high-priority; high-impact actions California’s policymakers should take to reverse the declining status of children. Topics covered in The Children’s Agenda include a comprehensive K-to-12th-grade education reform and revenue package, coordinating and streamlining the delivery of children’s services, effectively implementing federal health care reform and reducing childhood obesity rates, among others.

Here are some details about Latinos in the Report Card and the disparity among ethnicities:

Education:

• California’s zero-to-five population is ethnically and racially diverse: 53 percent are Latino, 28 percent are white, 10 percent are Asian and 6 percent are African American.
• Latino children are the least likely among the racial/ethnic groups to attend preschool.
• In California, only 42 percent of Latino children attend preschool, compared to 60 percent of white, 56 percent of Asian and 53 percent of African American children.
• For the first time ever, the majority of California’s K-12 students are Latino (50 percent).
• Among California’s high school graduates, 23 percent of African Americans, 23 percent of Latinos, 40 percent of whites and 59 percent of Asians completed the coursework to qualify for the state’s post-secondary education system.
• Only 16 percent of Latino and African American students were enrolled in advanced placement science courses compared to 22 percent of white, 29 percent of Filipino and 35 percent of Asian students.

Oral and Medical Health:

• One in five (1.8 million) California children does not have dental coverage, a slight increase from 2003, when approximately 1.6 million children (18 percent) lacked coverage.
• Among racial/ethnic groups in California, Pacific Islander children are most likely to lack dental insurance (30 percent), followed by Latino children (22 percent), white children (20 percent), Asian children (18 percent), African American children (12 percent) and Native American children (10 percent).
• 24 percent of African American children have been diagnosed with asthma compared to 17 percent of white children and 14 percent of Asian and Latino children.
• Overweight and obesity increase the chances of developing type 2 diabetes. If obesity trends persist, one in three California children born in 2000 is expected to develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. The risk is highest among Latino and African American children: nearly half are expected to develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. 

Source: ChildrenNow.org, “2011 California Report Card,” December 20, 2010.