Travis County Kids Aren't Alright

According to the United Way Capital Area's group, Success by Six, Travis County isn't doing so hot in serving area children. The county received a C for "healthy", and Ds for "Happy" and "Smart" on the group's report card (.pdf). Some results:

• Only 13.35% of area child care facilities meet national/state accreditation standards.
  
• 79.7% of Austin parents knew the name of their young child's favorite book.
  
• 17.8% of Austin-area parents and families are living below the poverty level (the National average is 16.7%).

Another scary statistic: 28% of Travis County kindergarteners are obese (which reminds us of this article on how many children are too obese for child car seats). The Statesman quotes Mayor Wynn as saying, "The good news is that we're doing this report . . . The bad news is, frankly, the grades." Exactly.

* Photo by Matt Wright