Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley’s City of Learners committee has released its action plan.
The plan was developed over a year with help from more than 70 educators and leaders.
The City of Learners committee wants to see more kids in preschool, internships with area businesses, and new afterschool and summer programs.
Mayor Nan Whaley says Dayton Public Schools also needs to focus on recruitment and retention of quality teachers.
“One of the issues DPS sees a lot is that we get a high-quality teacher and then they go somewhere else,” she said.
Some parts of this plan are more fleshed out than others. Whaley says the group wants to create a universal preschool option in Dayton, but it hasn’t assessed the cost. In Cincinnati, a similar program has projected costs around $16 million for a year’s worth of free preschool. The committee is also considering a school turnaround model like one used in Chicago in which low performing schools are closed and reopened with new staff and training.
City of Learners will continue to meet quarterly.
