LANSING -- Michigan is struggling to ensure the well-being of children of all races, but outcomes for white and black children both lag behind national averages, according to a new analysis from the "Kids Count" project.
The analysis grades all 50 states based on academic test scores, child poverty, high school graduation rates, young adult employment and other factors, and assesses the opportunities available to children in each of five racial classifications.
White children and African-American children, who make up the largest portion of Michigan's child population, both scored below their counterparts in other states, with the "opportunity score" for African-American children being near the bottom nationally.
"These results show starkly different conditions in our state for children of different races and places," Jane Zehnder-Merrell, director of Kids Count in Michigan, said in a statement announcing the analysis. "Our state and local policymakers must focus on strategies to increase opportunities for families with children in all racial/ethnic groups to have better outcomes and conditions."
Michigan scored low for reading and math proficiency in elementary grades, on-time high school graduation rates and childhood poverty, although the state did score well for the percentage of children who live with a parent who has at least a high school diploma.
Nationally, no ethnic group met all 12 milestones, the report states, although Asian and white children had the highest scores.
The full report is available from the Kids Count website.