Study: Nevada quality of life hinders students

The Nevada Public Education Foundation has issued a study arguing that Nevada’s chronically poor ranking in numerous quality of life surveys and its education problems are not separate issues but are linked. Indicators like housing, juvenile justice, maternal and child health and unemployment affect student performance.

“There seems to be a definite tie-in that unemployment and housing, those things certainly affect kids that are in school. … If they’re hungry, if they’ve got other issues going on in their lives, it’s hard for them to concentrate as much,” said foundation director Chanda Cook in an interview.

“In Nevada, 17.6 percent of children under 18 are living in poverty. While this rate is lower than the national average, it is the highest rate of child poverty locally in more than five years. Younger children are particularly vulnerable; the National Center for Children in Poverty estimates that 43 percent of Nevadans under age 6 are living in low-income families,” the foundation study reported. It can be read at ReadyforlifeNV.org