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Annual community report card highlights racial disparities

actrochester.org

ACT Rochester has released its annual community report card, an overview of trends meant to measure the quality of life in the 9 county region.

Some of the data follow a continuing theme from previous reports which demonstrate the degree of racial disparities.

The four year, regional high school graduation rate of 85 percent was above the statewide average. But in the city of Rochester, 57 percent of students earned their diploma on time.

Household incomes of white residents were nearly twice as high as those of African Americans and Hispanics.

Simeon Banister, interim vice president of community programs for ACT Rochester, says he is encouraged by the community response to these issues. Representatives from business, government, and the private sector attended the release of the report card this morning.

"We're all putting our heads together; we're looking at this data, we're peeling it apart and really trying to make some concrete steps. The data and information is an important part so we know what we're doing when we leave rooms like this and that our steps are informed."

Banister said the yearly report cards give the community a yardstick by which to measure progress.

Beth Adams joined WXXI as host of Morning Edition in 2012 after a more than two-decade radio career. She was the longtime host of the WHAM Morning News in Rochester. Her career also took her from radio stations in Elmira, New York, to Miami, Florida.