Recently released data from the U.S. Census shows that poverty is on the rise in New Jersey despite the fact that our state ranks as the second-wealthiest in the nation. Rising poverty is having a serious negative impact on New Jersey's kids and families.

According to Census numbers:

• One in 15 New Jersey households – or 215,000 people – received food stamps in 2010.
  
• Food stamp usage increased by more than 23% in 2010.
  
• One in seven children in New Jersey is considered poor.
  
• The statewide poverty rate is 10.3%.

For minority children, the numbers are even more serious:

• 27.8% of African-American children live in poverty.
  
• 26.6% of Hispanic children live in poverty.

Poverty has a significant negative impact on children's ability to learn. According to historian and education researcher Diane Ravitch, "poverty is a root cause of poor academic performance."

"It really hurts children when they're hungry, when they're homeless, when they don't have access to decent health care," Ravitch has said in numerous speeches on the topic.

At the 2011 NJEA Convention, Ravitch criticized politicians who call poverty irrelevant to student achievement. She pointed to the fact that the United States has the highest poverty rate of any industrialized nation in the world. When she compared low-poverty schools (schools where less than 10 percent of the population is considered poor) their scores were there best in the world.

Many other organizations have studied the impact of poverty on education in the United States and around the world. According to the International Academy of Education and the International Institute for Educational Planning in their report "Poverty and Education,":

"The home background of pupils is the single most important factor influencing educational outcomes. Poverty is strongly correlated with a range of other home background variables, including parental educational attainment, thus it is difficult to separate the effects of limited financial resources from other home background factors."

In these difficult economic times, families need the support of social safety nets – and their children need to know that they and their teachers will not be punished because they live in poverty. Working together, we can address the critical issue of poverty in our state and ensure that every child has access to high-quality health care, great public schools, stimulating early childhood education programs such as full-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs, and that their parents have the job opportunities they need to support their families and ensure a successful future.