For those wondering: here's Rachel article in today's HA.  The topic of the article needs to be shared more widely anyway - Mississippi at its best once again.  Go Rachel!  It means a lot that the HA hired you knowing full well how the SFT Administration felt about you - your integrity and skills outweigh any good-ole boy smear.

Miss. ranks 50th in national study

By Rachel Quinlivan
American Staff Writer

Mississippi's continued dismal showing on a study surveying the well-being of children across the nation was not unexpected for a Pine Belt educator.

"When you see what we spend per child in Mississippi, you can kind of understand that," Petal Superintendent James Hutto said Wednesday. "Our government, the legislature and the governor, they haven't really made a commitment to children."

The 2004 Kids Count report released today, ranks Mississippi 50th in the nation in the well-being of children, including issues concerning education and health.

Kids Count, a national effort that tracks the status of children in the U.S. on a state-by-state basis, found that Mississippi improved in six out of 10 areas, had setbacks in two others and saw no change in the remaining two areas.

Education is one area that is suffering, the report found. Math scores for Mississippi fourth- and eighth-graders were the lowest in the country.

The state's reading scores also were ranked low, with the reading skills of Mississippi fourth-graders tied with Louisiana for 48th in the nation and eighth-graders ranked 44th in their reading scores.

Gov. Haley Barbour and state lawmakers have said education must be a priority if Mississippi wants to compete in a global economy, but Hutto said that not fully funding public instruction does not reflect the legislative intent.

"Funding doesn't solve all the problems," he said, "but it's a starting point."

John Jordan, deputy state superintendent, said the Mississippi Department of Education implemented an accountability and assessment program four years ago in response to subpar findings such as the Kids Count report and has seen positive results.

"The plan doesn't allow for kids to slip through the cracks," Jordan said. "Its starts highlighting students at a very early age as far as proficiency in math, reading ... so schools are held accountable so that [students] do well and move on and don't drop out."

But Jordan added that Mississippi's 50th ranking in child well-being is directly related to the insufficiencies in adult education.

"Until we overcome this issue we have of poor education attainment by adults who are not trying to pick up the basics they missed as children," Jordan said. "They will continue to suffer with income, and their children will suffer."

The Kids Count report showed Mississippi had decreases in infant and child death rates as well as the number of children whose parents don't have a steady job.

Mississippi also saw decreases in the rate of teenage deaths by accident, homicide and suicide, teenage pregnancy among 15- to 17-year-olds and the percent of children living in poverty.

The report also found an 8 percent increase in the number of low birthweight babies and an 18 percent rise in the number of teenagers not attending school and not working.

The report said 19 percent of 18- to 24-years-olds in the state are not working or in school and don't have a degree beyond high school and ranked Mississippi at 42.