City shows continued improvement in 2020 Equality Indicators Report

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    Tulsa, OK (Tulsa World) — The city released its annual Equality Indicators Report on Thursday, with Tulsa’s overall score improving over last year’s.

The report, first issued in 2018, looks at dozens of equality indicators, such as education, income and access to public transportation to compare groups likely to experience inequalities, such as racial minorities, to groups less likely to experience them.

The indicators are scored on a scale of 1 to 100, with 1 representing inequality and 100 representing equality.

The city’s overall score in 2018 was 37.07, and 38.22 in 2019. This year it increased again to 39.61. The 2018 and 2019 scores do not align with what the city initially reported because the scores have been adjusted to reflect changes in the indicators.

The increase in the city’s overall score is primarily the result of progress made in education, services and public health, according to a press release issued Thursday by the city.

“The Equality Indicators Report continues to serve as a tool to track our progress across various sectors so we can work collectively to create a more equitable city,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said in the release. “This report is part of our commitment to continue to realize the disparities that exist in Tulsa so we can create forward-thinking policies and programs that give every Tulsan an equal shot at a great life.”

The highest scoring indicators were Homelessness by Veteran Status, with a score of 93, and Graduation by English Proficiency, with a score of 82.

Business Executives by Race, Payday Loans and Banks by Geography, and Food Deserts by Geography were the lowest scoring indicators, with each scoring just 1 out of 100.

The Equality Indicators Report focuses on six areas, or themes. Here are the scores for each theme:

Education, 46.22: Up 6 points from 2019, up 8.56 points from 2018 baseline.

Services, 43.44: Up 4 points from 2019, up 6.67 points from 2018 baseline.

Economic Opportunity, 30.78: Up 0.89 points from 2019, up 0.78 points from 2018 baseline.

Public Health, 43.78: No change from 2019, up 3.89 points from 2018 baseline.

Housing, 41.89: Down 0.22 points from 2019, down 0.89 points from 2018 baseline.

Justice, 31.56: Down 2.33 points from 2019, down 3.78 points from 2018 baseline.

In the past two years, the Equality Indicators Report has been issued by the city in April or May. City officials have said previously that this year’s report was delayed due to COVID-19.

Next week, the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity and Community Service Council are launching the Equality Indicators Learning Series: Data for Action.

The virtual series, which will run through June, will cover a different theme each month. The first meeting will provide an overview of the 2020 report. It is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday. The city plans to release more information on the series in the coming days.

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