SAIPE Program Census Bureau Form

Instructions and help about SAIPE Program Census Bureau

[Music] It begins with a question: How many school-age children are living in poverty? The U.S. Department of Education needs to know to distribute No Child Left Behind grants. The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey -a large, continuous national survey- provides poverty estimates by school district. However, for most counties and school districts,that requires pooling data over three or five years. Single year estimates are published only for areas with populations of 65,000 or more, leaving out ¾ of U.S. counties and more than 90% of school districts. Using data collected over 5 years may miss recent changes.Take Franklin County, Ohio, for example. The ACS five-year estimate released in 2012 includes income reportedfrom the beginning of 2007 through the end of 2011. That’s before, during and after the recession. Compared to the ACS one-year estimate for 2011,we’d underestimate poverty by about 1.5%. So what’s the solution? The Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Po