San Diego City Council President Tony Young and State Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher have spent the past seven months hearing community concerns about education.
After six community meetings about issues affecting San Diego schools, Young and Fletcher say they’re ready to move forward with planning initiatives to improve education in the city. They want to broaden the circle of people trying to improve local schools.
Fletcher says getting all elected officials more invested in education is a priority.
Young said the City Council will discuss how to become more involved in improving city schools and managing district finances.
He also said he wants to see more investment in education from the business community.
“If you want to do business with San Diego, which is a multibillion dollar entity, you’re going to have to tell me how you’re going to work to improve the lot of our community, when it comes to our kids and their education,” said Young.
Fletcher said he will introduce legislation early next year to address issues like supporting online education, and improving technology in the classroom.
“I think that the sense we got from the listening tour is that the public wants every elected official at every level committed to improving our schools," said Fletcher. "And so I don’t care if you’re on a water board or a school board or a city council or at the state or federal level - I think what everyone needs to do is say, 'What is it we can do to be helpful?'”
Fletcher and Young also said they want to see the formation of a San Diego education foundation.
