good afternoon a new report shows promising trends for New Mexico kids but there's still work to be done when it comes to child well-being in New Mexico the 2023 kids count Data Book shows kids in the most vulnerable communities are still struggling news 13's Madison Connor breaks down the latest numbers you can see that it is certainly true New Mexico's kids are still facing poverty at much higher rates the 2023 kids count report shows some steady improvements across the state from poverty leve
ls to education although 23% of our students still are not graduating on time more New Mexico high school students are completing school on time than ever before the number of students consistently absent stay about the same improving by just one percentage point from 2022 to 2023 to continue improving this trend we need to make sure our young people are engaged in school whether that's finishing high school or starting to pursue post secondary education but Dropout rates have gone up with Albuq
uerque Public Schools jumping from 3% to 5% of students dropping out in a given year if lawmakers continue putting kids and Families First particularly by continuing to invest in policies and programs that are only just beginning to show fruit we expect to see more improvements in the coming years for New Mexico's kids despite mostly seeing small improvements coordinators still notice a gap in certain communities especially those with lower incomes public policy must address the pressing challen
ges and barriers that are faced by too many of our children families and communities of color but they believe with new policies going into effect New Mexico's New State child tax credit will be available for families with children to claim for the first time this year and the policies on the table this legislative session they hope the state can continue in the right direction one of the big policies that we're excited about this year is particularly focused on um Native American students and h
elping them to graduate and and that's related to really making sure there's dedicated funding to support our native students Madison Conor kqe news3 a link to the full report can be found on our website at kqe
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