Title
To Declare Our City to be a "Leave No Child Behind City" and to Endorse the Movement and the Act to Leave No Child Behind (S.447/H.R. 936)
Body
WHEREAS, approximately 17.1% of children in Franklin County live in poverty; and
WHEREAS, 11.8 % of children in Franklin County are without health insurance; and
WHEREAS, only one in seven eligible children in America receives child care assistance through the Child Care and Development Block Grant, even though the average cost of center-based child care in urban areas exceeds the cost of public college tuition in 48 states; and
WHEREAS, approximately one third of parents who stop receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) find little or no work; and
WHEREAS, requests for food assistance from families with children increased an average of 19 percent over the last year, the highest rate of increase since 1991; and
WHEREAS, 3.6 million children in America are suffering "worst-case" housing needs with their families paying over half of their income for rent or living in overcrowded or substandard housing; and
WHEREAS, an estimated 7,900 children a day are reported to public welfare agencies as abused or neglected and over 2.5 million children are being raised by grandparents or other relatives, or are in foster family homes, group homes, or institutions; and
WHEREAS, 9 children and teens in America are killed by firearms every day; and
WHEREAS, federal legislation - the Act to Leave No Child Behind (S.940/H.R. 1990) - will help address these and many other needs of children in our city; and
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus has a strong commitment to improving the lives of children and ensuring that all of our children have the opportunity to grow up healthy, safe, educated, and free from poverty; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That the City of Columbus will hereafter be designated as a "Leave No Child Behind City".
BE ...
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