If you want to convince me of something, show me numbers! (The Next Mayor)

Wendy has this on the front page and for good reason.

I've had some numbers written in big, green highlighter and taped to my cubicle for about two months, ever since I first got wind of the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board's "Tale of Two Cities" report (suggested subtitle: "It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times").

Those numbers are:

45% of working-age adults in Philadelphia are not working or looking for work.

That means Philadelphia ranks 96th out of the top 100 cities in labor force participation.

20% of 16-24 year-olds are not in school or working.

19-25% of adults without degrees are unemployed.

But wait, there's more. From the Daily News:

Getting Philadelphia's education levels - the number of people who have graduated from high school, for example, or have advanced degrees - up to equal the state's level would raise the city's potential tax base by $1.8 billion, or 10.5 percent, the report said.

Clearly, there's room for that improvement.

For instance, there are 80,000 Philadelphians ages 25-45, considered the prime working age, who have at least one year of college - but never finished.

Also:

Only 20 percent of Philadelphians have college degrees, placing the city near the bottom of the nation's 100 largest cities in the percentage of college-educated residents. (We rank 92nd.)

Twenty-five percent of the city's residents left high school without graduating, a figure that is twice the state average.

Over 60 percent of the city's adults are considered "low-literate," meaning they have very poor reading skills.

Ok. I'm convinced.

Comments (1)

Sbadeau

Numbers do tell tales. They also provide the critical information we need to make the needed changes and improvements that will help our children - and ultimately our city. We (collectively) need to do a better job collecting and using data to make policy and budget decisions. THis is one of the key messages of the Children's Commission. Data matters. We need to make friends with numbers. I'm convinced too Dan!

Posted by Sbadeau | March 30, 2007 6:29 PM

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