Kids Count Report: little to celebrate especially w/ COVID impact unaccounted for

The Kids Count Report co-released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Voices for Children has at least partially been released (we had trouble accessing the full report). The Albuquerque Journal had a story and the most relevant chart (below). New Mexico has moved up slightly to 49th overall from 50th in the previous report. Of course, Gov. Lujan Grisham proclaimed this a “success.”

As we’ve stated in the past, the report itself is reasonably sound, but as with most such reports, but interpretations vary based on the political inclinations of those looking at the data. It is no surprise that the Gov. and Voices embraced even a tiny uptick. And, with the COVID 19 pandemic looming in next year’s data and New Mexico students suffering massive educational losses, it will be interesting to see what happens with the report itself and especially New Mexico’s results.