Too many children in Colorado face barriers to opportunity because of their race or ethnicity. This year’s KIDS COUNT in Colorado! report from the Colorado Children’s Campaign delves into disparities in child well-being based on race and ethnicity to show us where we can, and must, do better at creating equitable opportunities for children.
The 2017 KIDS COUNT report draws on the voices and experiences of Coloradans across the state to tell the story of how a complex history of policies and practices has created barriers to opportunity for children and families of color.
Combined with research and data, these findings open a window into a new way of looking at how disparities in health and education are the result of past public policies. Some of their findings include:
- Barriers to health coverage remain for Latino and American Indian children in particular. As of 2015, 3 percent of white children in Colorado were uninsured, compared to 6 percent of Latino children and 13 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native children.
- Across Colorado, only about half of all young children are enrolled in preschool, nursery school or kindergarten. Barriers to preschool enrollment, including affordability and the disproportionate use of suspensions and expulsions, are more likely to affect children of color.
- Boys, particularly black boys, and students with disabilities face disciplinary action at disproportionally higher rates.
- Colorado students of color are more than six times as likely to attend a high-poverty school than their white peers. Across the state, 5 percent of white students attended a school in which at least 75 percent of students qualified for free or reduced price lunch, while 32 percent of students of color attended one of these high-poverty schools.
- Racial segregation within school districts, as well as between neighboring school districts, is a driver of achievement gaps in public schools. Teachers in highly segregated schools are more likely to be new to the teaching profession, uncertified, and absent for a significant portion of the school year. Highly segregated schools are also less likely to offer opportunities for advanced coursework in many subjects.
- The average student of color in Colorado attends a school in which 14 percent of teachers are uncertified. That’s nearly two and half times higher than schools attended by the average white student.
