A new report card on the health and education status of California's children gives the state a C average. It's the 20th annual report from the non-profit group Children Now . KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has more.
The report card grades California on 12 different aspects of children's well being. The state got a C for the large number of kids without health insurance. It received a D plus for the fact that more than a third of California children are overweight or obese. Ted Lempert is president of Children Now. He says the state also got a lousy grade in the area of dental health.
Lempert: And that's really a two-pronged problem. One it's just a lack of dental insurance, similar to the health insurance issue. But the other issue we point out is the lack of access to pediatric dentists."
The state's highest mark was a B plus for its after school programs. But overall, California's K through 12 education system scored a C minus.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
