DCentric

The federal government is the single biggest industry in D.C., and how much employees earn varies by race, according to a new report by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.

Asian Americans earn an average of $53,401 a year. The average yearly salary for whites is $50,349; for Hispanics, the average is $49,873; and for African Americans, the average is $44,333. The average federal government salary among all races is $45,771 a year. Pay depends on General Schedule levels, and those groups who make more tend to hold higher pay grades.

Job cuts in the public sector have particularly hurt the black middle class, since African Americans hold a disproportionately high number of government jobs.

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• Source: Federalnewsradio

A new D.C. measure requires all public high school students to take a college admission exam and apply to college in order to graduate from high school. The bill also gives $10,000 to top teachers who relocate to struggling schools in low-income neighborhoods.

The measure could make a dent in D.C.’s unemployment disparity. Joblessness is high in D.C. neighborhoods where few adults hold bachelor’s degrees, partially because so many of the available jobs in the District require higher education credentials.

Critics of the new measure say it may backfire by making it more difficult for students to graduate high school. At least 20 to 30 percent of D.C. students don’t graduate high school. Maybe even more.

One of the intentions behind the move is to change the expectations of those students who don’t view college as an option. But will mandating taking the SATs change that?

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• Source: Washingtonexaminer

D.C. students would be required to apply to college or trade school and take the SAT or ACT under the most sweeping education legislation passed by the D.C. Council since a 2007 law set the stage for former Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s aggressive reforms.

Under the Raising the Expectations for Education Outcomes Omnibus Act of 2012, the District is set to become the first “state” in the nation to require students to apply to a postsecondary institution, according to council staff.

Read more at: washingtonexaminer.com

Racial attitudes and health care policy are two seemingly unrelated topics, right? Not necessarily.

Opinions of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul are sharply divided among whites with conservative versus liberal racial attitudes, according to researcher and Brown University political science professor Michael Tesler.

Tesler’s study appears in the American Journal of Political Science. It’s part of a larger research project examining how identity issues such as race and religion affect public opinions on a range of political topics, such as war and crime, reports NPR’s Shots blog.

Another thing to keep in mind: many Americans without insurance are unaware of the specific provisions in the health care overhaul bill that could directly impact them, such as low- and middle-class tax credits. But that may simply be because such intended benefits haven’t been enacted yet, so the law is still not tangible — particularly for struggling Americans too busy with making ends meet to make time to read long and complex policies.

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• Source: Npr

In an experiment, Tesler presents a health care overhaul policy to whites, telling some that the policy is advocated by Bill Clinton and telling others that it’s advocated by Barack Obama; Tesler finds that whites with liberal racial attitudes become more supportive of the policy when they think Obama is its chief advocate, while whites with a conservative attitude become less supportive of the policy when they think of health care as an Obama policy.

Read more at: www.npr.org

The U Street corridor became the cultural hub of the black community in segregation-era D.C., so much so that the neighborhood earned the moniker “Black Broadway.” But some of the landmarks of that time period had been left to disrepair. Now one of them — Howard Theatre — will be opening its doors for the first time in decades thanks to an extensive, $29 million restoration project. Howard Theatre was once billed as “the largest theater in the world for African Americans,” reports WAMU 88.5′s Metro Connection.

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• Source: Wamu
• Via: @wamumetro

“Ella Fitzgerald was found here,” [the project's developer Chip] Ellis says, “before she went up to the Apollo and did the amateur show there.”

In fact, not only did Lady Ella, the First Lady of Song, get her start at the Howard, the whole concept of amateur night did, back in 1931, thanks to theater manager, Shep Allen.

“Then it later went up to New York, in 1935 when the Apollo opened up for African Americans in Harlem,” Ellis says. “But before that time, Billy Eckstine, Dr. Billy Taylor, The Clovers, Marvin Gaye, when he was with his doo-wop group, he was first found and won the amateur night here.”

Read more at: wamu.org

Gentrification has transformed Logan Circle into one of the District’s pricier neighborhoods. But even as some social service groups have moved out of the neighborhood, Logan Circle is still home to resources for the city’s neediest residents.

A foreclosed apartment building in Logan Circle has been converted into permanent housing for 31 homeless women. Nonprofit N Street Village has just started moving women into the building at 1107 11th St. NW, which features “wrap-around” services, such as counseling and health care. It’ll cost the city about $300,000 a year to run the place, while N Street Village will cover $100,000 in yearly costs, the Washington Business Journal reports. The nonprofit’s headquarters, which houses homeless women as well, is located just a few blocks away. And what’s being built across the street from there? Luxury condos.

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• Source: Bizjournals

An estimated 13,205 homeless people live in the D.C.-metro area, making it the fifth largest homeless population in the country among large metro areas, according to a new report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The overall population in the D.C.-area is quite large — nearly 5.5 million people — so naturally there would be more homeless people here than in a smaller city. The Washington region ranks 21st when examining the rate of homelessness, a measure that controls for high overall populations. There are 24 homeless individuals for every 10,000 people living in the D.C.-area.

High homelessness rates in cities can be explained by a few factors, writes Atlantic Cities’ Richard Florida, including warm winters, unemployment and high housing costs. Crime is actually lower in areas with higher homelessness rates, he adds, but homelessness is more prevalent in cities with a greater share of Hispanics in the population.

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• Source: Theatlanticcities

An estimated 600,000 Americans are currently homeless, including nearly 70,000 veterans, according to the recently released The State of Homelessness in America from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. That’s a small drop-off from 2009, but U.S. rates are alarmingly high: 21 homeless per 10,000 people across the country.

The spread of homelessness is not uniform. Some cities have been hit much harder than others.

Read more at: www.theatlanticcities.com

Nearly a quarter of total D.C. households are considered “underbanked.” Those families have bank accounts but still regularly use things like check cashers or payday lenders, which can make the cost of accessing money expensive. And many underbanked households in D.C. are black, Hispanic or making less than $30,000 a year.

Turns out that banking from phones could be a way to increase access to financial services. Results from a new Federal Reserve Board survey show that mobile banking is more prevalent among traditionally underbanked groups. For instance, black and Hispanic mobile phone users are much more likely to use mobile banking than their white counterparts, according to the survey.

Mobile phones have also been suggested as a solution to reducing the digital divide that persists in the District. Blacks and Hispanics are already making greater use of mobile broadband than whites.

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• Source: Federalreserve
• Via: @nprbusiness