One of my campaign pledges was to bring together the City, local public and private schools, colleges and universities, labor and local businesses to focus on education and jobs for Oakland’s youth.
Under the leadership of OUSD Superintendent Tony Smith, Mills College President Janet Holmgren and myself as Mayor, our Education Cabinet meets once a month to focus on three priorities:
- Fine tuning the education/jobs continuum so that the school, city and business community helps students graduate from high school, experience work as interns and help focus on their future with meaningful jobs.
- Finding ways to better support early childhood education for our youngest students, including Ready to Learn and Literacy, despite the dramatic cuts to Head Start and Early Education Centers by the State and Federal Government.
- Working together to reduce chronic absenteeism and improve the graduate rate for Oakland youth.
Additionally, department heads from the City and the School District meet monthly to share ideas on how we can collaborate to better support each other and improve our efficiency. The Safe Friday/Safe Saturday Nights program is one of the first programs stemming from this new initiative.
