More than 500,000 people live in the city of Atlanta, and when we wake up each day, we all can be proud that one of America’s greatest cities is the place we call home. It’s a wonderful and powerful thing to have in common, and it fuels the work so many people every day to support a thriving Atlanta.
However, not all of our journeys through the day and through life are the same. Our starting marks — where we grew up, the education we received and the jobs our parents had access to — are different. Those differences result in varying challenges to reaching dreams and goals. Too many of our neighbors are asked to beat the odds to be successful.
Credit: handout
Credit: handout
That’s why we need to continue the work together to change the odds. It is how we can celebrate important progress while knowing the city’s continued growth and long-term potential depend on making sure more Atlantans have access to opportunity. In “Changing the Odds: Comprehensive Solutions for Atlanta’s Future,” the Annie E. Casey Foundation shares innovative success stories and marks life-changing gains seen in the city over the past decade or so. It also offers ideas for addressing disparities that have endured or even worsened.
Since 2001, the Casey Foundation, through its Atlanta Civic Site, has been building public, private and community partnerships to improve neighborhoods on the city’s south side. Changing the Odds is the third in a series of reports tracking neighborhood, education and economic data by race to identify challenges and highlight solutions. The latest report finds some good news for our great city. For example:
· The share of Black children living in low-poverty neighborhoods went up 13 percentage points between 2012 and 2021. These neighborhoods offer better economic, health and social outcomes for children.
· Graduation rates are up across the board. The city’s overall rate of 87% in 2023 was its highest ever and even exceeded the state graduation rate. Racial disparities have narrowed.
· Employment for Black jobseekers in Atlanta stood at 91% in 2021, much higher than in 2013 (87%) and much closer to the citywide average, which in 2021 was 94%.
Despite improvement, disparities underlie the data in all three of those areas — neighborhood poverty, education and employment.
· While more of Atlanta’s children live in low-poverty neighborhoods, white and Asian children are still more than twice as likely as Black children to live in low-poverty areas.
· Recent third-grade reading and eighth-grade math scores reveal large and persistent disparities that must be addressed to maintain a strong graduation rate and workforce in the future.
· Employment isn’t enough. From 2013 to 2021, the difference in median earnings between Black ($38,854) and white ($114,195) households increased by $3,529 to reflect a gap of $75,341. Building a strong financial foundation for the future is out of reach for many laden with debt and unable to save.
These disparities intertwine to make it that much harder for our neighbors who experience them. Households with low earnings might also be households in high-poverty neighborhoods with schools that don’t offer as many advanced courses. High housing costs and inadequate supply further limit the range of choices for families seeking paths to opportunity.
Challenges that affect so many aspects of families’ lives require multifaceted solutions. What positions Atlanta for continued growth and improvement is how many talented and dedicated people are working on these issues. Most every aspect of the city’s economic and civic life is represented by one or more of the 61 local organizations in the Changing the Odds Network, which was organized after the first Changing the Odds report. Working across public and private sectors, the network collaborates on crosscutting solutions — for example, making sure high-quality, affordable early learning is available for children so parents can work and advance their careers.
Many recommendations in Changing the Odds call for investments in community-led solutions to community challenges, from expanding affordable housing and making new resources available for entrepreneurs of color to making sure students have access to rigorous coursework.
Too many of our families are struggling. As a result, many of our children are missing out on opportunities that a great city should be providing. Our challenges are interconnected, but in this city, we know how to work together to get important things done. It’s our legacy. Let’s change the odds for our young people, families and communities. Nothing could be more important to Atlanta now or in the future, and nothing would make a greater difference.
Kweku Forstall is the director of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site.
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