Where do you go for the top news in Early Learning at the municipal level? Check out “5 Questions for the Mayor,” where we’ll explore the top Early Learning challenges and successes in cities across the nation. We’re thrilled to partner with the National League of Cities on this new series.
57% more students in the Dayton Public School Districts who attended Preschool Promise sites were ready for kindergarten than children who weren’t enrolled in our program.
I really love how gritty and resilient it is. This grittiness is something I saw following the tornadoes, mass shooting and other issues that happened in 2019, a particularly tough year. This strong culture of Dayton has helped our city recover, and the generosity of our people and communities has been really beautiful to see.
Also, Dayton has its own identity. It has a history of innovation, yes, but it also has a history of believing that no one will come in and fix it, so we work to fix it on our own. You can see it in our response to tragedies. After the shooting, our community raised $3.8 million for the victims to support people who lost loved ones and for those who were injured.
Our people are very proud of what this community is accomplishing. We know it has its challenges, but we’re working together to do the best for our community. You can see it in our communities’ demand of action of our state and federal legislators around gun legislation.
Come see our city and you’ll learn how our communities have come together.
2. You decided to call Dayton home after attending the University of Dayton. What has education meant for you?
My parents went to college but didn’t graduate. They made education a key goal for my brother and me. They wanted us to graduate college. They reinforced that every night at dinner, beginning for us at the age of seven when we had discussions about college, where we’d go to college and when we’d graduate. So, we are first-generation college graduates, and for both of us, it provided the gateway from the working class. I still consider myself a working class kid but getting a college degree has opened doors. My parents didn’t have that opportunity and it’s amazing to see how much more stable our lives are because of our college degrees.
3. Tip O’Neill taught us that “all politics is local.” And you have said that the most effectively functioning part of government is at the local level. Tell me more about how mayors are on the front lines of key national issues like education, housing/homelessness, economic restructuring, gun control and technology.
Because of the gridlock both in our state legislatures and in Washington DC, we’re seeing a renaissance of local leadership. It’s out of requirement more than choice because if you have national issues that are affecting your community, like education and housing, there’s no help coming from the statehouses and DC. We have to figure it out locally. And I know from the United States Conference of Mayors that amazing efforts are happening at the local level, including Universal Pre-K and stopping evictions so people can have a higher quality of life. This is a big change from the 1970s when there was significant help from Washington, DC. Now, “locally” is where democracy is happening.
4. Regarding early learning, what are your city’s top challenges and how are you meeting them?
Viewing
New documentary on Netflix: To learn more about Dayton, check out American Factory, filmed in Dayton, which recently won the Oscar for Best Documentary.
ProPublica/Frontline Documentary: “Left Behind America” series: How Struggling Dayton, OH, Reveals the Chasm Among American Cities Stream it here.
Linda Shockley is a New York-based writer, and communications specialist for the Bezos Family Foundation.