Saturday Stats: Numeric news from Policy Matters
Posted February 05, 2022 in eNews
11: Yvonka Hall founded The Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition (NEOBHC) 11 years ago after realizing Black Clevelanders needed an organization dedicated their health and wellbeing. Since then, the organization has grown – providing critical services such as COVID-19 vaccination clinics, men’s health screenings and domestic violence support groups. It also serves as a powerful change agent in the region and was a driving force behind Cleveland’s lead safe ordinance and police reform in the city. This Black History Month, we launched a community partner spotlight project: Doing the Work. NEOBHC is the first group we’re featuring. Please read more about coalition’s important work, and consider supporting them with a donation.
$4.4 billion: Through the American Rescue Plan, the federal government sent Ohio school districts $4.4 billion to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The money is meant to help districts take COVID safety measures and address the school staff shortage. So far, according to Tanisha Pruitt’s blog, the state has spent only a fraction of it. But some districts are using the money to address staff shortages with better compensation for staff, teachers and substitutes.
10,000: Speaking of school staff shortages, the Economic Policy Institute found that Ohio has 10,000 fewer workers in public K-12 education compared to before the pandemic – a total decrease of 3.3%. That figure includes teachers, bus drivers, custodians and more.
Almost $2 billion: Last week, we learned the DeWine administration offered Intel nearly $2 billion to build a semiconductor chip production factory — $600 million in a cash grant, $691 million for infrastructure including roads, water, and sewer, and $650 million in a job creation tax credit. JobsOhio, the state’s private economic development entity is offering an additional $150 million. We have some questions, as Hannah Halbert explains in her TikTok debut.
10%: Social justice news site Truthout published an entire interview with Amanda Woodrum for her work with ReImagine Appalachia to push federal policymakers to create good, family-sustaining jobs that also tackle climate change. It’s especially pressing in Appalachia, dominated by extractive corporations that leave people sick and poor after taking the region’s resources. With its abundance of natural resources, Appalachia should be one of the nation’s richest places, Amanda said. Instead, too many of the region’s counties rank in the bottom 10 percent nationally for their high level of unemployment and poverty, and low family incomes.
37%: According to Piet van Lier’s analysis, 37% of calls that came into Cleveland emergency dispatch during a 20-day sample taken in 2021 may not have required an armed police response. He joined a panel to discuss public safety alternatives on the Sound of Ideas this week. (Read Piet’s report, Reimagining public safety in Cleveland.)
$442: Over a million Ohio families received an average monthly payment of $442 between July and December 2021 due to the expanded child tax credit. Families didn’t receive the payment this month because the Senate failed to pass Build Back Better before the end of 2021. Will Petrik discussed what’s at stake for families with Jason Carter, a Cincinnati parent, and Tami Lunan, an organizer with the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, on Cincinnati Edition.
$300: A new study finds something else at stake in not extending the CTC: children’s brain development. The study shows that when mothers with low incomes received just over $300 in monthly cash assistance during the first year of their children’s lives, their infants’ showed signs of stronger long-term brain development.
8.8 million: A record number of people last month – 8.8 million – missed work because they had COVID-19 symptoms or were taking care of someone who did, according to a blog from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Yet last fall, two-thirds of hourly workers reported going to work sick, primarily because they couldn’t afford to miss out on pay. Having a paid time off policy is not just the right thing to do for working people, it’s critical to stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Coming up:
Protect kids’ rights to learn about our true history. Join Honesty for Ohio Education for a townhall meeting Thursday, February 17 at 7 p.m. Register here. The town hall will feature advocates from around the state. For more information on the attacks on education, check out Red Wine & Blue’s book ban map.