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1. Become a “Teacher Friendly City”.
One of the biggest challenges facing public education today is the
national teacher shortage. School
districts everywhere struggle to attract and retain quality teachers. City Hall
can help. In San José, for
example, the cost of housing is very high and the dream of owning a home is
often out of reach for many teachers. That’s why we started the Teacher
Homebuyer Program that provides teachers with a $40,000 no-interest loan to
help them purchase their first home. San José has already helped over 200
teachers buy homes in our city since 1999. Thanks to this innovative program,
San José is regarded as the Most Teacher
Friendly City in California.
2.
Invest in preschool programs and quality childcare.
Children under the age of five need supportive, challenging, and
nurturing environments to develop, grow and succeed.
One of the most cost-effective ways to improve learning outcomes is to
invest in preparing children to learn before they enter school.
We started the Smart Start San José
Program for this reason, and we’re now building 20 preschool centers
operated in cooperation with school districts, Head Start, and private preschool
providers. In addition, we recently
launched an initiative to expand the number of quality childcare options
available to parents by adding 2,000 child care seats in San José. The goal of
both these programs is to help more children become ready to learn when they
reach kindergarten and give them a smart start for success.
Read
more about Smart Start Centers - Click Here
3.
Keep schools safe. Children cannot learn where they do
not feel safe. San José is already
the safest big city in America, and our goal is to ensure that our schools are
the safest in urban America. San José established the Safe School Campus Initiative to reduce violence and potential risk
at and near our schools. We have focused this effort both on prevention through
planning and training, and on swift coordinated responses to campus incidents.
Our partnership is preparing schools to be more effective to prevent and
manage catastrophic events, whether a Columbine-type shooting or even a
terrorist attack.
Safe
School Campus Initiative - Click here to find out more
4.
Extend the school day by providing quality after-school
programs. The City of San José offers a broad range of after-school
recreational and enrichment programs, with the flagship being our Homework
Centers at 220 sites serving schools throughout the community.
At San José homework centers, students can study, receive tutoring, and
use computers in a clean, safe, and supportive environment. Extending the school
day helps improve student achievement while providing supervised, constructive
youth activities that reduce the potential for youth crime.
Find
out more about the San Jose Homework Centers
5.
Encourage innovation in public education.
City leaders across the country have been at the forefront of encouraging
innovation in education. Charter schools, for instance, can demonstrate new models to
provide quality public education. I
helped found Downtown College Prep, the first charter school in San José,
because it targets under-performing middle school students and offers a rigorous
college preparatory program that creates the opportunity for them to go to
college. There are now three more
innovative charter schools in San Jose, each with its own unique mission and
focus to enhance educational opportunity in our city.
Visit
the Downtown College Prep Website
6. Recognize and encourage schools that show improvement. Too often the only stories written about public education are negative. In addition, the only schools that receive recognition are those that are already high performers. We must encourage more schools to improve, and recognize those that show significant improvement in student achievement. We annually celebrate the five most improved schools in San José with our “Progress to Excellence Award” that provides a much-appreciated boost to those committed to becoming high performing schools.
7.
Encourage parents to be active in their child’s education.
There is no question that active parental involvement is one of the most
important factors for a child’s success in school. Cities need to be creative
in order to find ways to encourage parents to get more involved in their
children’s lives. In San José, we have a partnership with the Parent Institute for Quality Education in cooperation with school
districts to train 10,000 parents to be more effectively involved in their
children’s education.
Read about the
Parent Institute for Quality Education
8.
Build strong relationships with school district leaders.
All children benefit when governments work together. Because our city is
served by 19 separate school districts, San José established the Schools/City
Collaborative to improve communication and coordination between City Hall
and all our different districts officials so we could get better results
together. The collaborative meets
regularly to identify issues, solutions, and opportunities to improve education
for our students.
See
new school/city collaborative workplan
9. Support efforts to improve school facilities. A community’s commitment to education can be judged by the quality of its schools – and the quality of its school buildings. Leaking roofs, cracked walls, and broken air conditioners interfere with learning and teaching. Mayors should champion efforts like school bond campaigns when the funding is clearly needed, as we have done in San José to help our school districts win recent bond elections.
10.
Talk about education! Talk about education! Talk about education!
Mayors can strengthen public interest and support to improve the quality
of public education by beating the drum continuously. We can use our influence
with civic leaders, other elected officials, businesses and community
organizations, and the media to ensure that education stays at the top of the
public agenda, to celebrate success, and to achieve results that benefit our
students and community.
Click
here to see the Mayor's many educational visits in our City
Tell us what you think about the "Top Ten Ways A Mayor Can Improve Public Education"
For more
information about San José education initiatives, contact the Office of San José
Mayor Ron Gonzales at (408) 277-4237, or send an email to mayoremail@ci.sj.ca.us.