South Carolina Kids Count

Media Notification of Kids Count 2005 Release

The 2005 South Carolina Kids Count report for the state and each of the 46 counties have been posted on our website: www.sckidscount.org. It contains the latest data available as of the fall of this year. During 2006, the state and county reports will be updated with newly released data throughout the year rather than at one time.

What information is most striking?

  • Hispanic/Latino babies constituted 6.6% of all births in 2003 and were over 10% in five counties: Saluda 35.2%, Jasper 20.9%, Beaufort 20.4%, Newberry 15.8%, and Greenville 11.0%.
  • Births to teen mothers were down to only 4.6% and the pregnancy rate of girls 14-17 was down to 3% in 2003.
  • Births to single mothers were at a new high of 41.1% in 2003.
  • The percentage of children on Medicaid in June of 2004 was 52% statewide, ranging from 37.4% in York to 85.4% in Allendale.
  • During kindergarten, 29.4% of students were assessed by their teachers as "less than consistently ready."
  • The percentage of students below basic in 2005 has declined since PACT was initiated in 1999 by 34.9% in English/Language Arts and 48.3% in Math.
  • Graduation rates in 2003 for eighth graders four year earlier were 64.4% if state and local certificates are included and 59.9% if only state high school diplomas are considered as graduation.

What information is available that was not in previous South Carolina Kids Count reports?

To accompany the 2005 reports, we have extracted the data that sheds light on Judge Cooper's court decision regarding minimum education adequacy. SC Kids Count has no legal expertise and offers no opinion regarding the constitutional issues involved. However, Judge Cooper has brought into the public dialogue major questions regarding the relationship of poverty, low family literacy, substandard academic achievement, and early childhood development. Kids Count data is rich with information on these matters, including the serious problems of rural counties. A data memo has been posted on our website applying our data to Judge Cooper's opinion and to the policy issues raised. The data presented highlights three critical issues:

  • Early childhood definitely is the right time to start addressing the school performance challenges poor, minority, and rural children.
  • Early childhood programs alone will not resolve the academic performance problems of poor children, since the number of students below basic doubles between grades 3 and 8.
  • Rural schools have huge problems that must be addressed to overcome the multiple burdens of high poverty, low literacy, small district size, low tax base, and non-competitiveness for high quality teachers.

What data reports are being released?

Whom can we contact for information and assistance?

A. For policy and data questions and general comments, please contact:

1. Dr. A. Baron Holmes, Project Director (baron.holmes@ors.sc.gov)
1919 Blanding Street, Columbia, SC 29201
Phone: 803-898-9928; Fax: 803-898-9972.

-or-

2. Kelly Graham, Public Relations (kgraham@scchildren.org)
Voices for South Carolina's Children
2001 Assembly Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Phone: (803) 256-4670

© Copyright 2002-2011 South Carolina Budget and Control Board, Office of Research and Statistics