WASHINGTON IS IN THE BOTTOM HALF OF STATES FOR EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING ACCORDING TO KIDS COUNT® DATA
Earlier this month, the Annie E. Casey Foundation published its 2024 KIDS COUNT® National Data Book, which ranks states in overall well-being and across four categories:
Education
Economic Well-Being
Health
Family & Community
Washington state ranked 14th in the nation for overall rankings, but there were two categories in which we scored in the bottom half of states: education and economic well-being.
In this post, we’ll discuss where we’re lagging behind other states in education and economic well-being, and we’ll share some of the advocacy we’re working on to improve in these areas.
Education
Washington state ranked 26th in education, putting us in the bottom half of states. The Annie E. Casey Foundation estimates education rankings on the following indicators:
Why does early learning matter?
Children’s Alliance focuses on early learning as a key advocacy area because it is so important to lifelong learning and community. When a child enters an early learning environment, whether it is child care or state-funded preschool, they become part of a community that is more independent of their parents. Their experiences with teachers, other children, and the educational resources provided form a foundation for how they interact with education. Children who experience a positive, supportive environment with plentiful resources often enthusiastically announce that they love preschool! It is fun, and within that fun space, they are also getting all the developmental support they need to be able to read, learn math, and navigate their social environment in a healthy way. Every child deserves this experience, but we know that there are vast opportunity gaps that make it harder for children to learn well and feel safe in their school communities.
How do those opportunity gaps in early learning affect later education outcomes?
By the time a child enters kindergarten, opportunity gaps are clearly apparent. Washington kindergarten readiness data from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) illustrates disparities rooted in both household income and race and ethnicity. Because early learning is predominantly treated as a private good that parents pay for at least partially out of pocket, economic disparities have a particularly acute effect in early learning outcomes. Children who reside in households with an income that is at least 185% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) are 70% more likely to be prepared for kindergarten than children who live in households with incomes at or below 110% of the FPL.
Racial equity is another critical intersection in understanding children’s educational outcomes. Opportunity gaps that accumulate in a child’s first five years of life result in less than half of Black, Indigenous, and Latino children having the support they need for kindergarten readiness, even as a majority of their White and Asian peers receive the resources they need to be prepared for kindergarten. Those disparities are replicated in fourth grade reading proficiency rates, eighth grade math scores, and on-time high school graduation rates for both Black and Latino children. Although data for test scores are not available, Indigenous students are the most vulnerable population to experience education disruptions that delay high school graduation.
What now?
Education and the communities in which it takes place are crucial to children’s well-being. Whether it is through a home visiting program, child care, preschool, or a K-12 setting, education serves as a space in which children spend a substantial portion of their childhood.
Our team is advocating for Washington to live up to its promise to create a fair start for all our children, starting with high-quality early learning options that are meaningfully available for every child. We are working with advocates, service providers, legislators, and agency staff throughout the summer to help support robust early learning policies in the 2025 session.
Economic Well-Being
Washington state ranked 28th in economic well-being, placing us in the bottom half of states according to 2024 KIDS COUNT® data. The Annie E. Casey Foundation estimates economic well-being rankings on the following indicators:
Why does economic well-being matter?
It is essentially impossible to separate economic inequity from all other forms of inequity. When identifying root causes or policy solutions to any number of social or political issues, the economic factor is inescapable. Research has linked poverty to youth outcomes in health, education, and behavior, to name a few. As a result, we must ensure that, alongside solutions for addressing health and early learning disparities, we pass preventative measures that lift families out of poverty and provide economic stability. This is important for families of color, especially Black families, who hold a disproportionately small amount of wealth due to centuries of systemic racism depriving them of opportunities for upward social mobility.
What forms of economic justice are available to us?
There are two primary means of addressing economic insecurity that have recently had some success in Washington. First, we have seen some improvements as our state moves toward a more progressive tax structure. Until this year, Washington was ranked as the state with the most regressive tax system, meaning we placed a significant burden on working families to source our state’s revenue. Thanks to recent improvements in our tax code, including through the capital gains tax, we now rank #49.
The other form of economic relief that has proven to be successful in Washington is providing direct cash benefits. Many municipalities across the state have run highly promising Guaranteed Basic Income pilot programs in which families were awarded small monthly cash payments to spend as they please. The vast majority of recipient families spent this money on necessities such as rent, food, and health care. The State of Washington has also launched the Working Families Tax Credit, which is our state’s form of the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit. The Working Families Tax Credit provides families with low incomes with additional economic relief based on their income.
The combination of direct cash benefits and progressive revenue has started to slowly lift some of the burden from working families in our state and offer meaningful solutions to addressing economic insecurity.
What now?
Economic security and stability are foundational to success in all areas of life. No one can adequately dedicate time to their health or education if they do not have what they need to survive. In recent years, we have seen our state start to move in the right direction, including through incremental steps toward tax equity. We are optimistic that ongoing advocacy will continue to push this positive trend forward and ensure that those furthest from opportunity have access to the resources they need to not just survive but thrive. Children’s Alliance will continue to advocate for economic justice in all levels of government until all youth and families have equitable access to