Ohio's African-American Children

African-American children in Ohio are doing better than they were 10 years ago, but they still suffer from more health problems, and have fewer economic opportunities and lower academic achievement than other children.

That's the conclusion of a new Children's Defense Fund report that measures things from infant mortality rates to proficiency test scores.

The report, to be released today, found that black children in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Ohio's other big cities showed improvement but fared worse overall than those living elsewhere in the state.

The problems are more severe in the cities because poverty and African-American populations are more concentrated in urban areas, the authors of the report said.

As we consider our long-term economic development prospects...especially those of Ohio's central cities...this is a problem that needs to be fixed. We need much greater progress in this area. Remember that human capital is the #1 ingredient to grow the knowledge economy. That means human capital of all races and socio-economic classes.

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