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As the holidays near, we all reflect upon what we have to be thankful for. Across the District, children and their families are grateful that in DC:

•    98% of children have health insurance, one of the highest rates in the nation. 

•    Infant mortality rate is at a historic low in DC at 8 deaths for every 1,000 live births.

One-quarter (or 25%) of DC neighborhoods are high-poverty neighborhoods – or neighborhoods where 30 percent or more of residents are living below the federal poverty line ($23,050 for a family of four in 2012).

DC children are more likely than DC residents in general to live in high poverty neighborhoods. Nearly 31,000 DC children (31 percent) (most of whom are black) live in these neighborhoods, compared to about 20 percent of all DC residents.

Tomorrow is Election Day. With get-out-the-vote efforts in full swing across the nation, what might turnout look like across our local DC neighborhoods? Not spectacular, if the last general election is any indicator. Citywide, less than a third of registered voters cast a ballot in 2010 (not a presidential election year). Turnout varied across neighborhoods, but in all neighborhood clusters fewer than half of adults who were registered turned out on Election Day.

Editor’s note: Bonnie, who was DC Action’s 2012 Education Pioneers fellow this summer, drafted this blog post before she finished her fellowship in August.