As Texas Goes... (23 page)

Workforce

(50th=Lowest, 1st=Highest)

Quality of Life

(50th=Lowest, 1st=Highest)

Public Safety

(50th=Lowest, 1st=Highest)

Democracy

(50th=Lowest, 1st=Highest)

Key Facts and Figures

Children and Families:

• In Fiscal Year 2010, there were 78,718 confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect.
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• Over 280 children died due to abuse or neglect in 2009.
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• The rate of immunization in the 4:3:1 series (most basic vaccination series) for Texas children ages 19–35 months was 80.2 percent in 2009, below the national average of 81.5 percent.
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• 49 percent of children in Texas live in low-income families—families whose household income is twice the federal poverty level—as opposed to 42 percent nationwide.
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• 87 percent of children whose parents do not have a high school degree live in low-income families, compared to 30 percent of children whose parents have some college education.
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• In Texas, 66 percent of Latino children and 59 percent of black children live in low-income families, compared to 25 percent of white children.
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• 48 percent of children in urban areas and 55 percent of children in rural areas live in low-income families.
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• The maximum Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grant for a family of three with no income is $250 per month in Texas, ranking 45th amongst the states.
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• In FY 2010, the average monthly benefit for Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) recipients in Texas was $26.86, the lowest in the nation. The national average was $41.52.
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• 24 percent of poor children in Texas are uninsured as compared to 17 percent nationwide.
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Education:

• In the 2008–2009 school year, Texas 4th graders who were proficient in reading fell 4 percent below the national level with reading levels of 28 percent proficiency.
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• In the 2008–2009 school year, Texas 8th graders who were proficient in reading fell 3 percent below the national level with reading levels of 27 percent proficiency.
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• 79 percent of 4th graders in families with low incomes were at a basic performance level in math in comparison to 95 percent of whites.
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• 69 percent of 8th graders in families with low incomes were at a basic performance level in math in comparison to 89 percent of whites.
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• One in three high school teachers serving the highest percentages of low-income students lack full certification in the subjects they are teaching.
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• Nearly 30 percent of the teachers in the highest-poverty schools are not fully certified in mathematics including algebra I, one of the most important courses in high school.
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• Almost half of English I teachers working in high schools with the highest proportion of African-American students lack certification in English.
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Achievement Gaps:

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics. It is a nationally recognized assessment of what America’s students “know and can do in various academic subjects.” According to the U.S. Department of Education website, “Achievement gaps are calculated by subtracting the scale scores of one subgroup from the scale scores of another subgroup. NAEP scores are based on a scale from 0 to 500. The scale scores are a measure of student performance on the NAEP.”
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The following are the differences—or achievement gaps—between the average scale scores of the following groups of Texas students in the 2008–2009 school year:

Whites & Hispanic Students

• 4th grade math: 20

• 8th grade math: 24

• 4th grade reading: 22

• 8th grade reading: 22

White & Black Students

• 4th grade math: 23

• 8th grade math: 28

• 4th grade reading: 19

• 8th grade reading: 25

Higher Education:

• In Texas, only 30.7 percent of the population aged 25–35 has an associate’s degree or higher, far less than the national average of 41.6 percent.
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• Texas is ranked 42nd in residents 25–35 with an associate’s degree or higher.
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• Only 15.9 percent of Hispanics in Texas earned an associate’s degree within a three-year time frame, compared to 43.8 percent for whites.
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• Undergraduate students in Texas borrowed on average $4,723 in student loans in 2007, up from $2,873 in 1995.
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• Texas currently ranks 42nd in the number of high school graduates going to college, with 55.4 percent.
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• In El Paso County, 18.8 percent of the population has a Bachelor’s degree or higher, as opposed to 43.1 percent in Travis County.
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• The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University at College Station are the only Texas public institutions of higher education ranked in the top 100 in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges in the U.S., with UT at #45 and Texas A&M at #63.
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• 50 percent of college freshman in Texas are enrolled in remedial or developmental classes, compared with 28 percent across the U.S.
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• Texas funds only 32 percent of need-based financial aid, as opposed to 89 percent by the top-investing states.
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• The share of Texan family income needed to pay for college expenses at public four-year institutions increased from 18 percent to 26 percent between 2000 and 2008.
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• 36 percent of blacks and 38 percent of Hispanics graduate from a four-year institution within six years, compared with 56 percent of whites.
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• 50 percent of first-time, full-time college students earn a bachelor’s degree within six years of entering college.
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The Elderly:

• In a 2009 report, Texas had an 18 percent poverty rate among the elderly population (ages 65 and older), compared to the U.S. that had a 14 percent national elderly poverty rate.
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• In 2009, there were 33.1 different prescriptions filled at retail drug stores by the elderly in Texas; in the United States, there were 31.2 prescriptions filled by retail drug stores for the elderly.
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• The population in Texas that is over 65 years of age will be expected to grow from 2.1 to 7.4 million, or 258 percent, by 2040.
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• The National Center on Elder Abuse reports that only one of every 14 elder abuse cases is reported. Only 1 of every 25 cases relating to financial abuse or exploitation—usually committed by family and trusted community members—is reported.
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The Uninsured:

• In 2009, about 50 million people in the United States, or 17 percent, of the non-elderly population were uninsured.
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• 28 percent or 6.1 million of the population of Texas is uninsured, the largest share of uninsured in the nation.
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• From 2000 to 2009, the annual family health insurance premiums in Texas rose from about $6,600 to $13,221, or about 50 percent. During the same time period, median earnings rose only 38 percent.
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• Less than 51 percent of Texas workers under age 65 had employer-based health coverage in 2008–09; which is down 9 percent from 2000–01.
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• 16.3 percent of children in Texas were uninsured in 2009, compared to 8.6 percent nationally.
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• In Texas, 63 percent of adults between the ages of 19 and 64 living in poverty do not have health insurance.
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• Of those uninsured, 59 percent or 3.6 million, are Hispanic.
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• 59 percent of Hispanics under age 65 had no health insurance compared with 11 percent of blacks and 26 percent of whites.
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• 1.3 million Texas children, or 21 percent of the population aged 18 and under, were without health insurance in 2009.
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• Texas does not provide Medicaid to parents making even poverty level incomes; therefore, a working parent of two does not qualify for coverage if he or she makes more than $4,943.70 in a year.
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• A working parent in Texas is eligible for Medicaid if his or her income does not exceed 27 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). The FPL for a family of 3 is $18,310.
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Health Professionals:

• Texas will have over 27,000 nursing vacancies by 2010, and that number is expected to double by 2015.
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• By 2015, Texas would need more than 4,500 additional primary care doctors and other medical professionals in order to serve all of the state’s medically disenfranchised population.
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• Harris County, which includes Houston, Texas, has 28,274 licensed Resident Nurses; 20,220 of whom are employed as full-time nurses while 2,921 are unemployed.
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• Travis County, which includes Austin, Texas, has 7,984 licensed Resident Nurses; 5,118 of whom are employed as full-time nurses while 956 are unemployed.
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• Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, Texas, has 16,363 licensed Resident Nurses; 11,920 of whom are employed as full-time nurses while 1,582 are unemployed.
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• Dallas County, which includes Dallas, Texas, has 16,718 licensed Resident Nurses; 12,208 of whom are employed as full-time nurses while 1,521 are unemployed.
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• El Paso County, which includes El Paso, Texas, has 5,424 licensed Resident Nurses; 4,081 of whom are employed as full-time nurses while 517 are unemployed.
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• Lamar County, which includes Paris, Texas, has 650 licensed Resident Nurses; 491 of whom are employed as full-time nurses while 67 are unemployed.
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• Potter County, which includes Amarillo, Texas, has 1,228 licensed Resident Nurses; 858 of whom are employed as full-time nurses while 143 are unemployed.
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Income Disparity and Employment:

• The personal per capita income for Texans in 2009 was $36,484.
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