Education in Cincinnati

The dropout rate decreased in 30 neighborhoods between 1980 and 1990.

Dropout rates remained highest in white Appalachian areas.

Critics of the schools blame schools as being too large and impersonal to respond to the needs of today's students.

Low income African American and Appalachian areas have higher rates of non-completion.

From 1990 to 2000 every neighborhood but Camp Washington saw improvement in adult education levels.

Note the highest rates of illiteracy are in Lower Price Hill, Linwood, Camp Washington, and the East End.

Clearly the dropout problem is not confined to the city of Cincinnati.

Chapter 6

EDUCATION IN CINCINNATI

This chapter on education in Cincinnati is divided into three sections; school dropouts, adult education, and functional illiteracy. A fourth section on education in the metropolitan area closes the chapter.

School Dropouts

Figure 7 presents the neighborhood dropout rates. These rates reflect teenagers that reported in the census they were not in school and had not graduated. We feel these rates are probably better than really exists and therefore refer to a second data set from the Urban Appalachian Council in this chapter. However figure 7 does reflect the trend of where the highest percent of dropouts live and the neighborhoods with the lowest percent of drop-outs.

The second edition of The Social Areas Of Cincinnati, had data on the 16 - 21 year olds dropouts for 1970 and 1980. The third and fourth editions use data on 16 - 19 year old dropouts so the two studies are not directly comparable to the second edition. The data in this report is comparable to that used in School Dropouts: Cincinnati's Challenge in the 80s by Michael Maloney⁽¹⁾. The 1985 dropout study showed that the high dropout areas of Cincinnati were primarily Appalachian and that many inner city African American neighborhoods had 16 - 19 year old dropout rates of less than 25 percent.

A comparison of 2000 census data (Table 6a) and 1980 data shows the 16 - 19 year old dropout rates increased in 14 neighborhoods. Five of these were in SES I, two in SES II, five in SES III, and two in SES IV. In terms of race and ethnicity, the dropout rate increased in five white neighborhoods, four African American neighborhoods, and in three white Appalachian neighborhoods.

There was no change in the dropout rate in nine neighborhoods.

In 2000, the neighborhoods with the 10 highest dropout rates (Table 6b) were as follows: Lower Price Hill, 62 percent; Camp Washington, 60 percent; North Fairmount-English Woods, 50 percent; South Cumminsville-Millvale, 49 percent; Linwood, 48 percent; Sedamsville-Riverside, 46 percent; Over-the-Rhine, 45 percent; West End, 45 percent; Fay Apartments, 44 percent; South Fairmount, 42 percent; Walnut Hills, 42 percent; and Evanston 37 percent. Because of ties, there were 12 neighborhoods on this list. Seven are African American, five predominantly white Appalachian. This is a reversal of the 1990 situation when almost all of the 12 neighborhoods with the highest rates were Appalachian. The neighborhoods with the highest numbers (as opposed to percentages) of dropouts are East Price Hill (323), Avondale (308) and Westwood (281).

The dropout rate for Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) rose during the 1990s. In January 1996, the district's dropout rate was reported as a record 54.2 percent (citation 2). In May 2003 graduation rates had fallen to a low of 13% at one senior high school and the overall graduation rate was 60 percent (up from 47 percent in 1999, the year the census was taken). Even these dismal statistics do not reveal how bad the situation can be in some neighborhoods. The 2004 report cited a 73 percent loss of CPS students grades 9-12 in the Oyler attendance area (internal memo, author's files).

If the city wide dropout rate now approaches 40-50 percent, we believe that rates in some areas must be approaching 100 percent. Even in 1990, an analysis of block group data⁽³⁾ showed that there were 9 block groups with 100 percent dropout rates. Seven were Appalachian areas (Over-The-Rhine tract 10, Linwood, Carthage, and East End) or Appalachian pockets in white areas (Westwood). Four additional block groups in Linwood, Camp Washington, and Northside had dropout rates of more than 70 percent. There were 32 block groups with dropout rates higher than 50 percent. These were about equally divided between Appalachian and African American areas.

The debate rages about how to fix the dropout problem in urban high schools. The future of cities may depend on its resolution. Educators often blame poverty or lack of parental involvement. Alternately, there are the disparities in state and local funding which allow the richest districts to spend more than $13,500 per pupil while the poorest spend $3,500. Critics of the schools blame school bureaucracy, teachers, unions, or the fact that schools are too large and impersonal to respond

Table 6a
Cincinnati Neighborhoods' Drop-out Rates, 1980 - 2000
Neighborhood	High School Drop-Out Rate
	1980		1990		2000
	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number
QUARTILE 1
Fay Apartments	20%	36	16%	29	30.2%	73
N. Fairmount - English Woods	37%	174	14%	54	18.2%	50
S. Cumminsville-Millvale	12%	62	25%	72	23.9%	70
Over-The-Rhine	45%	319	31%	148	31.4%	154
Winton Hills	20%	140	26%	127	47.2%	159
Lower Price Hill	58%	93	45%	47	57.9%	33
Camp Washington	50%	59	53%	75	34.3%	58
West End	18%	172	28%	207	25.4%	125
S. Fairmount	47%	144	37%	83	18.9%	45
Avondale	19%	281	14%	146	34.1%	308
Walnut Hills	24%	165	14%	52	13.7%	47
Linwood	37%	41	16%	48	19.1%	13

QUARTILE 2
Sedamsville -Riverside	50%	125	25%	42	28.4%	19
East Price Hill	32%	493	14%	176	25.7%	323
Evanston	11%	94	45%	74	16.4%	87
Corryville	23%	54	49%	42	23.1%	68
East End	36%	9	49%	67	11.1%	11
Mt. Auburn	21%	179	31%	68	19.6%	107
Bond Hill	13%	97	53%	75	11.0%	69
Northside	33%	293	26%	172	24.0%	101
Winton Place	18%	32	14%	8	11.7%	21
Carthage	40%	59	28%	27	40.8%	40
Mt. Airy	10%	51	7%	26	0.0%	0
Fairview - Clifton Heights	18%	83	8%	42	14.1%	85

QUARTILE 3
University Heights	1%	26	0%	5	1.1%	21
Roselawn	13%	33	4%	8	23.7%	75
Sayler Park	22%	63	22%	37	25.6%	46
Westwood	15%	246	19%	251	16.5%	281
Evanston - E. Walnut Hills	6%	9	14%	16	8.3%	6
Madisonville	16%	133	37%	92	14.0%	91
Riverside - Sayler Park	43%	27	16%	11	26.3%	15
West Price Hill	14%	195	9%	78	12.6%	112
College Hill	12%	135	12%	100	8.2%	75
Kennedy Heights	11%	57	5%	17	13.0%	37
Hartwell	11%	24	9%	12	0.0%	0

QUARTILE 4
CBD - Riverfront	6%	6	52%	97	49.4%	38
N. Avondale - Paddock Hills	2%	20	1%	8	1.9%	20
Pleasant Ridge	18%	82	12%	56	2.4%	9
Oakley	20%	131	13%	51	20.7%	61
Clifton	16%	79	5%	18	15.1%	32
Mt. Washington	20%	121	14%	60	9.6%	48
East Walnut Hills	14%	11	28%	31	13.8%	16
Mt. Lookout - Columbia Tusculum	15%	23	8%	13	0.0%	0
California	27%	13	50%	6	28.2%	11
Mt. Adams	0%	0	0%	0	0.0%	0
Hyde Park	4%	30	3%	14	1.7%	6
Mt. Lookout	9%	14	0%	0	0.0%	0

(Click to enlarge)

Table 6b Cincinnati Neighborhoods: Education Levels of Adults, 2000
Neighborhood	High School Drop-out Rate		Less Than HS Diploma		Functional Illiteracy Rate
Neighborhood	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number
QUARTILE 1
Fay Apartments	30%	73	44%	333	4%	28
N. Fairmount - English Woods	18%	50	50%	1048	9%	189
S. Cumminsville-Millvale	24%	70	49%	820	11%	184
Over-The-Rhine	31%	154	45%	1956	9%	382
Winton Hills	47%	159	36%	718	6%	123
Lower Price Hill	58%	33	62%	317	25%	128
Camp Washington	34%	58	60%	532	26%	228
West End	25%	125	45%	2165	9%	436
S. Fairmount	19%	45	42%	823	14%	279
Avondale	34%	308	35%	3432	10%	926
Walnut Hills	14%	47	42%	2024	13%	604
Linwood	19%	13	48%	331	20%	135

QUARTILE 2
Sedamsville -Riverside	28%	19	46%	624	12%	168
East Price Hill	26%	323	35%	3678	9%	962
Evanston	16%	87	37%	1773	9%	450
Corryville	23%	68	24%	477	5%	104
East End	11%	11	44%	464	13%	133
Mt. Auburn	20%	107	28%	1068	3%	132
Bond Hill	11%	69	27%	1650	5%	322
Northside	24%	101	26%	1581	7%	455
Winton Place	12%	21	24%	344	5%	70
Carthage	41%	40	36%	572	9%	137
Mt. Airy	16%	81	17%	917	5%	239
Fairview - Clifton Heights	14%	85	16%	518	3%	107

QUARTILE 3
University Heights	1%	21	17%	586	6%	196
Roselawn	24%	75	22%	1070	7%	321
Sayler Park	26%	46	20%	403	4%	77
Westwood	17%	281	19%	4393	4%	1001
Evanston - E. Walnut Hills	8%	6	24%	284	5%	59
Madisonville	14%	91	20%	1493	6%	410
Riverside - Sayler Park	26%	15	21%	185	3%	25
West Price Hill	13%	112	21%	2460	5%	571
College Hill	8%	75	17%	1918	4%	435
Kennedy Heights	13%	37	15%	599	3%	119
Hartwell	0%	0	19%	752	6%	234

QUARTILE 4
CBD - Riverfront	49%	38	25%	684	9%	252
N. Avondale - Paddock Hills	2%	20	15%	500	3%	88
Pleasant Ridge	2%	9	15%	950	5%	323
Oakley	21%	61	16%	1392	5%	410
Clifton	15%	32	9%	556	2%	135
East Walnut Hills	14%	16	14%	436	3%	98
Mt. Washington	10%	48	11%	1131	3%	300
Mt. Lookout - Columbia Tusculum	0%	0	6%	123	1%	26
California	28%	11	13%	94	3%	22
Mt. Adams	0%	0	6%	70	0%	0
Hyde Park	2%	6	4%	414	1%	118
Mt. Lookout	0%	0	2%	41	0%	0

(Click to enlarge)

Table 6c
Cincinnati Neighborhoods: Changes in Education Levels of Adults, 1970-2000
Neighborhood	Less than HS Diploma				Percent Change	Functional Illiteracy rate			Percent Change
Neighborhood	1970	1980	1990	2000	1970-2000	1980	1990	2000	1980-2000
QUARTILE 1
Fay Apartments	50%	41%	53%	44%	-6%	16%	6%	4%	-12%
N. Fairmount - English Woods	76%	70%	58%	50%	-26%	43%	20%	9%	-34%
S. Cumminsville-Millvale	83%	72%	59%	49%	-34%	33%	18%	11%	-22%
Over-The-Rhine	88%	79%	53%	45%	-43%	47%	19%	9%	-38%
Winton Hills	72%	50%	44%	36%	-36%	17%	9%	6%	-11%
Lower Price Hill	85%	77%	70%	62%	-23%	53%	27%	25%	-28%
Camp Washington	85%	72%	53%	60%	-25%	51%	22%	26%	-25%
West End	83%	75%	58%	45%	-38%	41%	20%	9%	-32%
S. Fairmount	84%	68%	51%	42%	-42%	37%	22%	14%	-23%
Avondale	65%	55%	46%	35%	-30%	29%	19%	10%	-19%
Walnut Hills	72%	62%	43%	42%	-30%	33%	15%	13%	-20%
Linwood		70%	57%	48%	48%	41%	26%	20%	-21%
QUARTILE 2
Sedamsville -Riverside	81%	68%	56%	46%	-35%	33%	22%	12%	-21%
East Price Hill	69%	56%	44%	35%	-34%	30%	14%	9%	-21%
Evanston	69%	54%	42%	37%	-32%	28%	14%	9%	-19%
Corryville	61%	43%	33%	24%	-37%	22%	14%	5%	-17%
East End	85%	72%	65%	44%	-41%	45%	22%	13%	-32%
Mt. Auburn	69%	50%	36%	28%	-41%	27%	11%	3%	-24%
Bond Hill	41%	43%	31%	27%	-14%	20%	10%	5%	-15%
Northside	68%	54%	40%	26%	-42%	32%	13%	7%	-25%
Winton Place	66%	32%	39%	24%	-42%	26%	13%	5%	-21%
Carthage	76%	59%	48%	36%	-40%	37%	20%	9%	-28%
Mt. Airy	33%	27%	20%	17%	-16%	22%	5%	5%	-17%
Fairview - Clifton Heights	72%	41%	22%	16%	-56%	25%	10%	3%	-22%

QUARTILE 3
University Heights	49%	26%	17%	17%	-32%	15%	8%	6%	-9%
Roselawn	32%	32%	25%	22%	-10%	29%	8%	7%	-22%
Sayler Park	56%	41%	27%	20%	-36%	17%	7%	4%	-13%
Westwood	49%	37%	24%	19%	-30%	16%	8%	4%	-12%
Evanston - E. Walnut Hills	60%	47%	34%	24%	-36%	26%	9%	5%	-21%
Madisonville	57%	51%	34%	20%	-37%	24%	10%	6%	-18%
Riverside - Sayler Park	72%	47%	38%	21%	-51%	11%	11%	3%	-8%
West Price Hill	53%	40%	31%	21%	-32%	20%	9%	5%	-15%
College Hill	39%	31%	20%	17%	-22%	4%	6%	4%	0%
Kennedy Heights	39%	29%	23%	15%	-24%	10%	5%	3%	-7%
Hartwell	58%	38%	31%	19%	-39%	22%	12%	6%	-16%

QUARTILE 4
CBD - Riverfront	53%	33%	23%	25%	-28%	19%	7%	9%	-10%
N. Avondale - Paddock Hills	31%	21%	15%	15%	-16%	8%	3%	3%	-5%
Pleasant Ridge	37%	27%	21%	15%	-22%	11%	8%	5%	-6%
Oakley	58%	41%	23%	16%	-42%	21%	8%	5%	-16%
Clifton	30%	16%	9%	9%	-21%	9%	4%	2%	-7%
Mt. Washington	33%	26%	17%	11%	-22%	10%	5%	3%	-7%
East Walnut Hills	42%	26%	21%	14%	-28%	14%	7%	3%	-11%
Mt. Lookout - Columbia Tusculum			15%	6%	6%	12%	4%	1%	-11%
California	83%	44%	36%	13%	-70%	21%	10%	3%	-18%
Mt. Adams	55%	19%	7%	6%	-49%	6%	2%	0%	-6%
Hyde Park	28%	15%	7%	4%	-24%	7%	2%	1%	-6%
Mt. Lookout	24%	9%	4%	2%	-22%	5%	1%	0%	-5%

to the needs of today's students. Still others see the deterioration of urban public schools as another manifestation of the growing bifurcation of society between an inner city abandoned by the affluent, corporations, and even churches and a suburbia that continues to expand and waste resources duplicating infrastructure which already exists in the core city.

Adult Education

Figure 8 shows concentrations of adults (over age 25) who have less than a high school education. This map, when compared to Figure 2, illustrates a high degree of correlation between education and socioeconomic status. Low-income Appalachian and African American areas show up in the two quartiles with lighter shading (high rates of non-completion).

Of the ten neighborhoods with the highest rate of non-high school completion, (Table 6c) five were predominantly white Appalachian and five were predominantly African American. Nine of these neighborhoods showed improvement in the rate of high school completion since 1990 but Camp Washington's rate of non-completion went up in 2000. These neighborhoods should be a key target area for expanded adult education programs. Beyond that, all of the areas in white or light pink on figure 8 are areas of very high need where from 33 to 62 percent of the adult population lack a high school education.

Table 6b shows the percent of adults without a high school diploma by the neighborhood and SES quartile. Within SES I noncompletion rates range between 35 percent for Avondale to 62 percent for Lower Price Hill. In SES II the range is from 16 percent for Fairview-Clifton Heights to 46 percent for Sedamsville-Riverside. In SES III the range is from 15 percent in Kennedy Heights to 24 percent in Evanston-East Walnut Hills. Progress can be measured by comparing rates for the neighborhoods for 1970 and 2000 in Table 6c. Some of the highest rates in 1970 were Over-the-Rhine (88%), East End (85%) and South Cumminsville-Millvale (83%).

From 1990 to 2000 every neighborhood but Camp Washington saw improvement in adult education levels.

Table 6d-1

Ten Census Tracts with the Highest Rate of Adults without a High School Diploma, 1990-2000

Rank	Predominant Ethnic Composition	Census Tract	Neighborhood	Number of Adults without HS Diploma, 2000	Percent in 1990	Percent 2000
1	Appalachian	91	Lower Price Hill	317	70.2%	62.0%
2	African American	15	West End	836	60.6%	60.0%
3	Appalachian	28	Camp Washington	532	52.6%	59.7%
4	African American	9	Over-The-Rhine	749	49.6%	54.1%
5	African American	34	Avondale	407	46.2%	53.3%
6	African American	36	Walnut Hills	405	42.8%	53.1%
7	African American	35	Walnut Hills	532	48.2%	52.9%
8	African American	21	Walnut Hills	255	52.3%	51.6%
9	African American	3.01	West End	284	63.8%	51.3%
10	African American	86.01	North Fairmount	1048	58.0%	49.8%

Table 6d-2

Ten Neighborhoods with Highest Rates of Non-High School Completion, 2000

Rank	Neighborhood	Percent in 2000
1	Lower Price Hill	62%
2	Camp Washington	60%
3	N. Fairmount-English-English Woods	50%
4	S. Cumminsville-Millvale	49%
5	Linwood	48%
6	Sedamsville-Riverside	46%
7	Over-the-Rhine	45%
7	West End	45%
9	East End	44%
9	Fay Apartments	44%

Table 6e

Trends in High School Graduates and Dropouts

	Percent of High School Graduates (25 years and older)		Dropout Rates Civilians (16-19 years old)
	1970	1980		1980	1990
Cincinnati	50.9	57.9		18	13.8
SMSA	48.4	63.3		13.1	10.3

Functional Illiteracy

Tables 6b and 6c as well as Figure 9 show the distribution of functional illiteracy. Since the census yields no precise definition of functional illiteracy an eighth grade education level is commonly used as a surrogate variable. There are of course many persons with eighth grade education who can read newspapers, fill out job applications and read directions on medicine bottles. These are the skills lacked by the functionally illiterate. (Unfortunately there are also some persons with more than one year of high school who lack these skills). The functional illiteracy distribution is similar to that of dropouts and adult education. Hence the eighth grade cutoff is reasonably useful. Note the highest rates are in Lower Price Hill, Linwood, Camp Washington, and the East End.

Education as a Metropolitan Concern

One of the major reasons that education is a concern for the entire Cincinnati region is that regional prosperity is ultimately dependent upon the education and the skills of the labor force. Another reason is the presumed relationship between education and the maintenance of quality of our democratic institutions and related personal quality of life.

Table 6e shows that adult education levels are improving in both the central city and in the SMSA, though somewhat more rapidly in the latter. Table 6e shows the trend of 16-19 year old dropouts and those who are 25 without a high school diploma. Forty two percent of high school dropouts in 1990 were not residents of Hamilton County. Kenton County with 999 dropouts had both the highest number of dropouts outside Hamilton County and the highest rate of all the Counties. All of the SMSA counties except Warren had dropout rates higher than Hamilton County's rate. Clearly the dropout problem is not confined to the city of Cincinnati.

The same can be said regarding the distribution of persons over 25 without a high school diploma. The highest rate of non-completion was in Campbell County and the second highest was in Clermont County. As with dropouts the highest absolute numbers of persons without a diploma reside in Hamilton County.

Functional illiteracy defined as persons with an eighth grade education or less, is also highest in Campbell County. Boone County has the second highest rate. Hamilton County with over 44,000 persons in this category has the lowest rate of functional illiteracy. Those interested in targeting adult education can either use census tract or block group data to manage data distribution in the metro area or use the SES I area in figure 13 as an approximation.

QUARTILE 3

Roselawn

Education as a Metropolitan Concern