Greater Dakota News Service
South Dakota has ground to make up in early childhood education, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The 2026 Kids Count Data Book shows the share of South Dakota 3- and 4-year-olds not in school has increased by 4 percentage points over the past five years, to 64%.
Xanna Burg, director of Kids Count in South Dakota, said lawmakers need to take a more active role in preparing young children for the future.
“There’s been a lot of policy interest, but not a lot of policy changes in early childhood and childcare,” Burg said. “Looking at the number of young children who are not in school … in South Dakota, it’s getting worse.”
South Dakota’s lowest ranking among the categories measured in the report was in education, where the state placed 38th in the country.
The state fared better overall, rising three spots from last year to rank 22nd in the nation for children’s well-being. The report tracks national and state trends in economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors.
South Dakota is not alone in seeing education indicators decline. Leslie Boissiere, vice president for external affairs at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said that nationally, three of the four education categories in the report dropped, including reading scores for fourth graders and math scores for eighth graders. She said those declines may be a lasting effect of the pandemic.
Boissiere said policymakers can use the report to guide decisions that improve children’s lives.
“We encourage all policymakers to look at the data on children in their states, to look at the policies and programs that historically data and evidence show improve the well-being of kids, and to invest in those policies and programs,” she said.
Burg said the number of uninsured children in South Dakota is another concern. She said she worries more children could lose health insurance as parents lose Medicaid coverage because of new federal work requirements set to take effect in January.
“Even if things like work requirements that are being discussed might not apply to children,” Burg said, “when you make changes to children’s parents’ Medicaid or health insurance coverage, it has an effect on the whole family’s coverage.”
This year’s report adds a new score for states on a scale of zero to 1,000. Boissiere said the score allows states to compare themselves with others and spot trends over time.
South Dakota’s score is 602, above the national average of 547.