Virginia’s Superintendent of Public Instruction is calling on all state schools to promote the 2020 census in their classrooms. The stakes are high: There could be millions in federal dollars at stake.
Dr. James Lane says the census data determines how much money is available and where it is spent.
“The primary federal programs we are talking about include school nutrition, special education, Title 1, Head Start, Technology grants, after school programs and teacher training.” Lane said
Next week, the US Census Bureau is sponsoring “Statistics in Schools: Everyone Counts!” and has distributed kits and flyers for children to take home.
”When you look at Virginia receiving more than 17 billion dollars through 55 different federal spending programs, we just want our parents to know how important it is.”
In 2010, the US Census says over one million children under five were not counted.
“Virginia was among the top ten states that had the highest number of uncounted children in the 2010 census,” said Lane
This year, he says we want to do better.