Michigan's Black children performing worse than national peers, report says

Black children in Michigan are far behind their national peers when it comes to averages for graduating high school on time, completing an associate’s degree and fourth-grade reading proficiency, according to a new national report released this month.

Michigan's Black children are performing worse than their peers nationally in every metric measured in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Race for Results report. The metrics include data relating to early childhood, education and work experiences, family resources and neighborhood context.

Officials say the report shows a nationwide lack of support for families resulting in poor outcomes for Black, Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native children. The report’s index stan­dard­izes scores across 12 indi­ca­tors that rep­re­sent well-being mile­stones from cra­dle to career, report officials said, con­vert­ing them into a scale rang­ing from 0 to 1,000 to com­pare and see dif­fer­ences across states and racial and eth­nic groups.

The 2024 index also intro­duces a new group, chil­dren of two or more races, who now make up 5% of the U.S. child pop­u­la­tion. 

Michigan’s overall scores by race were Black, 268; American Indian/Alaska Native, 565; Asian and Pacific Islander, 800; Latino, 479; White, 660; and two or more races, 515.

Officials with the foundation said nationally, Asian and Pacific Islander children had the highest index score at 771, followed by white children at 697 and children of two or more races at 612. Scores for Latino (452), American Indian or Alaska Native (418) and Black children (386) were considerably lower.

Monique Stanton, president & CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy, said while recent state budgets have improved making sure schools are sufficiently funded, it comes on the heels of decades of disinvestment.

"And that disinvestment in education is compounded by a history of discriminatory policies rooted in racism around housing, property tax limits and local funding for neighborhoods," Stanton said in a statment. "Those years of inadequate funding means Black children in Michigan are among the least likely to attend preschool, be proficient in reading and math, graduate high school on time or earn a post-secondary degree."

The report, released Jan. 10, shows that Michigan is improving in some areas. The report found American Indian and Hispanic students in Michigan have seen significant gains in graduating high school on time, exceeding the gains seen by other students in Michigan and by their national peers.

Michigan adults ages 25 to 29 outpaced the national average in completing an associate’s degree or higher. Only 20% of Black students earned the credential compared with 42% of Michigan’s young adults overall. 

Officials said Michigan has also seen an increase in children living in two-parent households, which statistically have more resources and are more financially secure than single-parent households.

The report found the change applied to Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic children, Asian and Pacific Islander children as well as children who identify as two or more races. White children were the only group for which the indicator —children living in two-parent households —worsened.

The foun­da­tion created the Race for Results index in a 2014 report and updat­ed it in 2017. The new report contains data post-COVID-19 pan­dem­ic.

The report included recommendations to improve child outcomes including Congress expanding the federal Child Tax Credit, states expanding the earned income tax credit and policymakers creating specific programs and policies to close gaps for children and young adults of color.

jchambers@detroitnews.com