Melissa Wilson
April Children’s Hero of the Month

What originally interested you in becoming a member of the CHILDREN AT RISK family?

When I first moved to Houston twelve years ago, Children at Risk was the very first organization that I was introduced to.  I met several people on the Board of Directors and loved their vision and hopes of making a difference in Houston.  I immediately joined the Board to try to help them achieve impressive goals.
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How do you support CHILDREN AT RISK?

I host the annual Children at Risk golf tournament to try to help raise funds to further the organization’s mission.  This is a great time to introduce new people to the group, as well as nurture relationships we’ve been building for years.  I also Emcee the Annual Accolades luncheon for Children at Risk.  It’s also fun to be able to Anchor the news in Houston and be able to report on Children at Risk, when it makes headlines for all of its hard work.
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What has been your favorite memory with CHILDREN AT RISK?

My favorite memory is looking back on how simple the organization started out.  It was a small group of people who had big dreams, but very few people in our community seemed to understand the mission.  Those original people kept “pounding the pavement” and now this group is quite a powerhouse across not only Houston, but the state of Texas!___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What are your community activities and hobbies?

I love still serving on the Honorary Board for Children at Risk, but also serve on the Advisory Board for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and the Baylor Business Network.  I’m a member of Baylor University Women’s Association and Sigma Kappa’s Alumnae Association.   I’m a “Friend” of Escape Family Resource Center and am a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and The Society of Professional Journalists.  I’m also the Co-Den Leader with my husband for our son’s Cub Scouts group and am on the Capital Campaign Board at my oldest son’s school.  In my spare time, I take care of all of our pets, including our dog, cat, leopard gecko, teddy bear hamster, fire belly toads, turtle, fish, and anything else my boys can find to play with!  I also love to garden and just read a good book in my spare time, which isn’t very often.
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When you were a child, what did you dream you’d be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a famous ballerina and choreographer on Broadway.   Though reality set in during college, and telecommunications classes took over, those 16 years of dancing still pay off on the dance floor with my husband.
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What is your favorite part of the CHILDREN AT RISK mission?

I love the fact that Children at Risk is trying to take care of every aspect of a child’s life.  I also like the fact that Children at Risk constantly adds new missions on to their “to do list”.  Several years ago, human trafficking was seldom talked about in our area.  It was almost considered “someone else’s problem” in another country.  Now that Children at Risk has found out what a severe problem it is in our area, they are making huge strides to controlling this serious problem. 
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Why should somene give their time, effort, and support to CHILDREN AT RISK?

Everyone should look at the statistics that Children at Risk compiles, to see how they’re able to make a difference in our community.  It’s these numbers that drive other organizations and lawmakers to help change the problems and enhance children’s lives.  We need this group to keep up their hard work and help them share their knowledge!  The only way this can happen is to have a lot of people backing them. 
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January Hero of the Month
February Hero of the Month
March Hero of the Month

Tell us why you should be the NEXT Children’s Hero of the Month by sharing this post and writing on our Facebook page and Tweeting @childrenatrisk!

On March 9^th, CHILDREN AT RISK was honored to speak on the High-Level Panel on Human Trafficking at the United Nations’ 56^th Commission on the Status of Women. UN delegates representing several countries gathered to hear from panel experts about the current efforts in place to combat the various forms of trafficking across the globe. CHILDREN AT RISK spoke about past and current efforts in the United States, with a focus on our work in the State of Texas and our collaboration with local, state and federal public officials as well as our network of national anti-trafficking organizations.

On April 19^th, CHILDREN AT RISK will be presented with a 2012 Congressional Victims’ Rights Caucus Award, the Suzanne McDaniel Public Awareness Award, in recognition of our efforts to raise awareness among legislators, public officials, and the general public about domestic minor sex trafficking. The award will be presented to CHILDREN AT RISK in Washington DC by the Honorable Ted Poe and the Honorable Jim Costa, co-chairs of the Victims’ Rights Caucus. We are humbled to receive this prestigious honor and appreciate the recognition of our hard work.

There are several problems associated with Class C ticketing. In addition to missing days from school to appear in court, parents must also miss a day of work to accompany their child. If a student fails to appear in court or pay their fine, a warrant for their arrest may be issued on the student’s 17^th birthday. In addition, use of Class C ticketing as a disciplinary tool has proven to be ineffective for many students. Over 300,000 Class C misdemeanor citations were issued in the State of Texas in 2011 alone, and many of the tickets issued were to students who had been ticketed before.

CHILDREN AT RISK learned that unlike juvenile records which are kept from public view, information about students who receive Class C tickets is made public on the County’s website. Beginning on March 1^st, the Chronicle ran a series of articles highlighting this issue. CHILDREN AT RISK, along with Texas Appleseed, Judge Michael Schneider of Harris County’s 315^th state district court, and Representative Sylvester Turner, provided comment in these articles to emphasize the need for enhanced sensitivity to juvenile information.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Legal-loophole-makes-some-juvenile-records-public-3375574.php

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Lawmaker-will-try-to-close-loophole-making-3393328.php

To ensure that issues surrounding Class C misdemeanor ticketing are addressed legislatively or through legal action, Class C misdemeanor ticketing is being addressed in CHILDREN AT RISK’s Impact Litigation, Education, and Juvenile Justice Committees. Through observations of Class C ticketing court dockets, interviews with students, parents, and teachers, and a continued collaboration with key organizations working on this issue throughout the state, CHILDREN AT RISK will work hard to raise awareness and find solutions to student ticketing.

Houston, TX (March 13, 2012) – After the 82nd Texas Legislature slashed the public education budget by $5.4 billion, school districts have been faced with difficult choices of how and what to cut from their budgets. With staffing comprising about 86 percent of most districts budgets, most have decided to reduce campus and district staff through attrition, or layoffs.

New data from the Texas Education Agency documents the first official numbers on positions eliminated in the 2011-12 school year. A total of 25,286 positions were reduced from 2010-11 to the present school year. The staff types that saw the most positions eliminated include auxiliary staff such as bus drivers and custodians, elementary and secondary teachers, classroom support staff such as educational aides and teacher facilitators, and pre-kindergarten teachers.

As data becomes available on the far-reaching impacts of state cuts to public education, one consequence is clear: significant reductions to teachers, classroom support staff, and pre-school will impact the classroom, and will impact learning.

Table: Total full time equivalent (FTE) positions lost from the 2010-11 to 2011-12 school years for the Top 10 most shed positions.
Staff Type – Positions Lost (FTE)
1. Auxiliary* – 6973
2. Educational Aide – 4847.5
3. All Grade Levels – 3443.0
4. Elementary (Grades 1-6) – 2885.1
5. Secondary (Grades 7-12) – 2618.7
6. Pre-Kindergarten – 1132.1
7. Teacher Facilitator – 970.6
8. Counselor – 389.6
9. Kindergarten – 358.2
10. Librarian – 345.8
*Auxiliary staff positions are non-professional or paraprofessional, including bus drivers, custodians, and cafeteria workers.

According to the new Texas Education Agency data, Texas school districts saved well over $600 million by eliminating 10,717 full-time equivalent (FTE) professional teaching positions in the past year. At the same time, Texas was projected to add over 100,000 students from the 2011 to the 2012 school year, as projected by the National Center for Education Statistics. Fewer teachers and more students in Texas’ classrooms assure many teachers are faced with larger classes and less time to work individually with students. Among school districts that employed at least 1,000 teachers in 2011, the districts that made the greatest percentage of reductions in teaching staff were Waco ISD (11%), Spring ISD (8%), Goose Creek ISD (8%), Abilene ISD (8%), and Houston ISD (8%).

Significant reductions were also made to professionals and paraprofessionals who support teachers in the classroom, as well as provide additional help and individual attention to struggling students. Among the most heavily cut positions from 2011 to 2012 were educational aides. Statewide, eight school districts cut over 100 educational aide positions: Spring ISD (224 aides), Arlington ISD (189), Houston ISD (182), Dallas ISD (150), Edgewood ISD (149), Comal ISD (145), Laredo ISD (122), and Rio Grande City ISD (105).

Finally, the new data clearly illustrates how the compounded effect of reduced general revenue and the elimination of the state Pre-kindergarten Expansion Grant program, made it easy for many districts to eliminate pre-school. In total, school districts cut 1,132 pre-kindergarten teaching positions by limiting student enrollment, moving from full to half-day curriculums, and/or increasing class size. While some school districts—such as Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Lubbock ISD, Harlandale ISD, and Northside ISD kept their pre-school staff largely intact, others made drastic cuts. For example, El Paso ISD cut 344, nearly 93% of its pre-kindergarten teaching positions.

“Collecting, reporting and broadly disseminating unbiased data on the impact of these unprecedented cuts to public education will be critical for understanding how cutting back on education spending affects our children,” said Janet Harman, founder and president of the KDK-Harman Foundation. “It is time to look at the data and ask ourselves if scaling back our investment in public education decelerates our efforts to end the cycle of poverty.” The KDK-Harman Foundation, along with the Kathryn and Beau Ross Foundation, have contracted CHILDREN AT RISK to evaluate the impact of state cuts to education.

Over the next six months, CHILDREN AT RISK will be conducting a comprehensive study on the impact of the $5.4 billion cut to public education on school districts and students across the state. Through analysis of Texas Education Agency data and original data collection from school districts and non-profits, CHILDREN AT RISK will uncover the multi-dimensional impact of cutting formula and grant funding to Texas public schools.

“When we cut education, of course it will have a profound impact on the future of our children,” said Dr. Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of CHILDREN AT RISK. “As many districts are left with little choice but to make these cuts inside the classrooms, we must pay special attention to how this will impact learning among all our children, particularly those who need extra attention.”

About CHILDREN AT RISK
CHILDREN AT RISK is a non-profit organization leading the way to improving the quality of life for Texas’ children through research, collaboration, and advocacy. CHILDREN AT RISK educates the community and public officials based on its groundbreaking research which tracks children’s health, safety, education, and economic conditions. By understanding children’s needs and speaking out on their behalf, CHILDREN AT RISK drives change. Visit us at www.childrenatrisk.org, to learn more.

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However, as highlighted in an article by Rafael Perez-Escamilla and Rodrigo Pinheiro de Toledo Vianna (2012), millions of American children are going to bed hungry each night. According to the US Household Food Security Survey Model, during the course of 2010, 14.5% of American households faced food insecurity at some point. This adds up to over 17 million hungry households per year – 3.9 million of which include children. It is estimated that 1 in 5 American children are at risk of hunger, and this alarming ratio drops to 1 in 3 for black and Latino children. Key risk factors for food insecurity include: living near or below the federal poverty line; belonging to a household that contains children and is headed by a single adult; or being black or Hispanic.

Children who are hungry and don’t know where their next meal is coming from are likely to face many adverse consequences, ranging from poor performance in school to deteriorating health. That’s why CHILDREN AT RISK works on a range of food insecurity-related issues, including a push to encourage schools to provide universal free school breakfast for students who may not be receiving three square meals a day at home.

For more on the devastating impacts of food insecurity, please visit the most recent issue of the Journal of Applied Research on Children