Nevada ranks in the cellar for children’s well-being, with all education measurements worsening over the past few years.
That’s according to the annual Kids Count report put out by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a national philanthropic organization that advocates for policies aimed at improving the lives of children and families.
Released June 9, the national report ranks Nevada 47th among states for children’s well-being based on economic, educational, health, and family and community measurements.
Nevada shares the basement with Oklahoma (46th), Mississippi (48th), Louisiana (49th) and New Mexico (50th).
The states that ranked best were New Hampshire (1st), Vermont (2nd), Massachusetts (3rd), Utah (4th) and Minnesota (5th).
Tara Raines said the benefits expected from a big bump in Nevada education spending — approved in 2023 — haven’t had time to be felt yet. She is deputy director at Children’s Advocacy Alliance, a Nevada nonprofit that’s part of the Kids Count network.
“It’ll be two or three years before we start to see those investments working,” Raines said.
Nevada’s education numbers
The Kids Count data looked at how Nevada changed education-wise over the past few years.
• Math: Between 2019 and 2024, the percentage of eight-graders not proficient in math worsened from 74% to 80%.
• Reading: The percentage of fourth-graders not proficient in reading stayed about the same, edging up from 69% to 70%, from 2019 to 2024.
• Young children not in school: The percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds not attending pre-kindergarten classes rose from 64% to 67%. The report compared data from 2014 to 2018 with data covering 2019 to 2023.
• High school graduation: The percentage of high school students not graduating on time also ticked upward, from 16% during the 2018-19 school year to 18% in 2021-22.
“A lot of what we see in the Nevada education ranking has to do with us having a lower per-pupil expenditure than most states,” Raines said. “Also, our kids aren’t mandated to go to school until age 7; in a lot of states, it’s 5.”
She said she saw good proposals approved during this year’s Legislature such as investment in early childhood education.
Another promising proposal, she thinks, is Senate Bill 165. It addresses youth mental health and was awaiting Gov. Joe Lombardo’s signature as of June 6.
It would train people in schools and the community to identify low-level mental health stress points for children.
“It would allow us to support kids early so they can focus on academics and be mentally prepared to learn in school,” Raines said.
Nevada’s numbers on economic well-being, health and family
Nevada has stayed fairly steady — but still near the bottom among all 50 states — on metrics related to children that measure economic well-being, health, and family and community.
The only real improvement shown was in teen pregnancy. The number of teen births per 1,000 births fell from 19 in 2019 to 13 in 2023.
About 1 in 6 children is in poverty in Nevada.
Also troubling: 28% of Nevada children have parents who lack secure employment, according to Kids Count data.
“We have a lot of gig workers, contract workers and day laborers,” Raines said. “We have that in common with a few of those other states” ranked near the bottom in children’s well-being.
Nevada will improve only if its leaders get intentional about improving these measurements, she said, and look at how the state’s infrastructure and systems support children in an accessible and efficient way.
“If we don’t, I think we’re going to continue to be in the same company we’re in now,” Raines said, referring to other states that ranked poorly.
Why improve children’s well-being
States and local governments have many priorities, from police and fire protection to overseeing nursing homes and making sure businesses can operate successfully.
Supporting children’s needs is one of many competing interests.
Kids need to be prioritized more, Raines said, because they are the state’s future.
“If you think of it from a workforce perspective,” she said, “we’ve got 80% of Nevada eighth-graders who are not proficient in math as of 2024. We’ve got 70% of fourth-graders who are not proficient in reading. How do we have a workforce of people who are not proficient in math and reading?”
This is an issue for all Nevadans, Raines added.
“This is an everybody problem,” she said. “It’s not a school district problem. It’s not an educator problem. It’s not a people-with-children problem. It’s a community problem.
“Until we can get that collective goal where everyone is on the same page about doing what’s best for children and families, we’re going to continue to flounder.”
Mark Robison is the state politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, with occasional forays into other topics. Email comments to [email protected] or comment on Mark’s Greater Reno Facebook page.
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