Executive Summary

Executive Summary

White children in Maine are currently facing a great hurdle in terms of overall development and educational achievement; national averages are showing stagnation/decline in terms of important developmental and educational indexes of success. Obvious overlaps with Maine's recent rates of socio-economic status across its population indicates a proportional relationship, perhaps even a causal one, between the two variables.

The paper proposes two solutions: (1) influencing educational policy directions to help effect broader change in Maine; and (2) developing/encouraging supplementary programs aimed at improving the categories mentioned above. Option 2 is proposed to be the better of the two solutions due to its potential depth and its ability to specialize and focus on particular aspects of child education and development in Maine.

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Developmental and Educational Problems of White Children in Maine

Dropping/Stagnant Quality of White Children's Development and Educational Achievement

A recent report from The Annie E. Casey Fondation (AECF) put together national data on children's developmental and educational milestones, taking into account differences in achievement and access across racial categories. For the state of Maine, this meant the two dominant racial categories in its population: non-Hispanic Black Americans and non-Hispanic White Americans. Maine's results were interesting on two counts: Scheerer reports that results from African American children was above the national average of African American children in the study, but were still far below the mean average of White children. However, White children in Maine are not hitting the target milestones sufficiently, and ranked only 36th out of all the 50 states (Scheerer; "Kids Count"). Scheerer added that Maine was also significantly behind its New England neighbors in terms of White children attaining developmental and educational milestones, although some states have got it rougher. Somehow confirming these results, Scheerer stated that the high school graduation rate in Maine was at 86% for African Americans and at 82% for Whites.

The results are intriguing but also worrying; needless to say African American children face more socio-economic and political barriers to educational and developmental opportunities. This phenomenon is caused by many factors, including racial demarcation along economic lines, cultural perceptions on race, etc., and happens nationwide. AECF  stated that African American children are more prone to exposure to bad neighborhoods, more likely to be affected by poverty, and as a result, have less proficiency for general subjects like math and science, affecting future education and experience ("Race for Results" 10-12). While their relative success in Maine is something that should be lauded, the fact is obscured by the fact that White children are underperforming in developmental and educational milestones despite being more economically stable. The fact that African American children, who are supposedly handicapped in terms of economy and opportunity, are improving while White children are not says a lot about the state of child development and education in the state.

Whichever phenomenon we may choose to highlight, one thing becomes painfully clear: that the quality of development and education in Maine is in need of dire improvement, and this especially true for White children. White children in other parts of the country have experienced a similar decline in development and education. While there is a plethora of potential causes, we can look at phenomena with a similar curve of decline. One such phenomenon is socio-economic status (SES). SES has recently emerged as a potential factor/contributor to a range of social problems. For example, it has been positively correlated with life expectancy; Whites that have lower SES than average are likelier to die earlier than their contemporaries (Maine.gov 5-6). People with lower SES are also more economically limited in their options regarding a spectrum of issues, like which schools they send their kids to, the health plans their families apply for, etc. Maine's 2010 data of SES reports that the state is the 36th of all 50 states in terms of personal income standings, and its estimated household income of $37,400 is the lowest in New England. The striking similarities of the 2010 data to Maine's performance in the AECF survey may be indicative of a positive correlation between SES and the frequency and quality of child development and educational milestones achieved by children.

Supplementing White Education or Policy Development

Assuming that the suggested correlation exists, potential solutions on the problem are largely constrained, mainly by the fact that they would probably involve raising the state's standards of living, wage rates, and what not--which cannot be remedied easily or overnight. Maine denizens, however, can contribute to the problem in two crucial ways: one is to influence general educational policy directions that would help enhance the educational and developmental situation of White children in Maine. The other solution would be to set up supplementary programs specifically geared towards improving the developmental and edcuational station of White children.

Policy Route

Policy development is always a viable option for resolving state issues, because they offer the breadth and scope that can effectively adjust phenomena in short spans of time, with veritable results. That is, if the policy ever takes effect. Not all bills submitted by constitutents and state officials are turned into state acts, and even when they do, it usually takes a lot of time to do so. However, one may argue that the problem discussed above is not as urgent enough to be labeled a crisis, although some change ought to be expected soon. Schools' parent-teacher associations (PTAs) can study the current curriculum and modify it, giving emphasis on addressing potential educational needs unique to White children in Maine that are not addressed in the current system. They can also resort to programs that promote nutrition education, and find ways to incorporate them into the existing curriculum; nutrition education programs have been confirmed by research to improve academic achievement in addition to overall health (Powers, Struempler, Guarino and Parmer 131-132). Using the consolidated information, they can push for an educational policy direction they want to see achieved in the future. 

Supplement Route

The acknowledgement that African American children are generally disadvantaged have resulted to hundreds of supplementary programs aimed at improving their access to educational opportunities and quality of development. The public can support organizations like Elevate Maine, whose purpose is to increase the qulity of education in the state of Maine, mainly through supplementing mandatory education through specialized programs geared towards different school levels (Baker and Emmons). The creation of tax-funded organizations and/or nonprofits addressing the same concerns is also a feasible route to take. Like the first route, nutrition education programs can also be incorporated in potential strategies to be developed.

Taking the Supplement Route

While policy carries much potential change, it simply hinges on a lot of political factors, and the bureaucratic system of our government makes it difficult to effect changes directly. State budget on education, existing educational policies, and other factors can complicate the process. Not to mention the fact that Whites are not usual targets of affirmative action; while the problem may well be real enough, racial politics may affect the success rate of the strategy. On the other hand,the supplement route, being purely objective-driven, can help address the problem directly, given the right amount of resources are present. Supplementary programs/organizations can also specialize across particular aspects of the problem, which means that all aspects of the problemn can promptly be addressed given the right amount of groups specialize on a known issue. The only real hindrance to this strategy is related to the fact that it is fully dependent on the support of the community. But this ceases to be an issue once the problem at hand is seen as an emergent problem that can be complicated in the future by inaction.

Conclusion

Problems that involve a region's economic situation are extremely difficult to solve, if resolution is possible at all. Nevertheless, this should not stop us from trying to do our best given our situations. As this paper suggests, taking the supplement route, for reasons stated above, is the most feasible solution available to us at the time.

There is no easy solution to the social problem discussed in this paper. Inaction, however is definitely not a solution; by not doing anything to resolve the situation, we risk compromising the future of a lot of White Maine children.

Works Cited

AECF. Kids Count Race for Results Index Methodology: Comparing Children's Success Accross and Within States. 1 April 2014. Web. 11 April 2014.

AECF. Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity of All Children. 2014. Web. 11 April 2014.

Baker, Eleanor and Emmons, Chris. "Maine Voices: Elevate Maine aims to help front end of educational pipeline." Press Herald. 11 April 2014. Web. 11 April 2014.

Maine.gov. "Socioeconomic Status." Oportunities for All. 2010. Web. 11 April 2014.

Powers, Alicia Raby, Struempler, Barbara J., Guarino, Anthony, and Parmer Sondra M. "Effects of a Nutrition Education Program on the Dietary Behavior and Nutrition Knowledge of Second-Grade and Third-Grade Students." Journal of School Health 75.4 (2005): 129-133l. Print.

Scheerer, Mark. "Report: Kids in Maine Face Hurdles--Minorities Still More." Public News Service. 1 April 2014. Web. 11 April 2014.