Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley delivered the annual State of the City address Wednesday at City Hall.
In the 20 minute speech, the Mayor outlined the city’s progress in job growth, infrastructure improvements, and investments in revitalization projects like the Dayton Arcade, Welcome Dayton and residential housing in the downtown area.
But the Mayor said more work needs to be done on vacant and abandoned residential and commercial structures, particularly on the city’s west side. She also said education, including kindergarten readiness, continues to be a struggle for the city.
“Really focusing on high quality schools, high quality pre-schools, and that every child gets a chance at it. I mean, I think those are the two key points and then we have to make sure that we as a community figure out a way to make that happen," she said. "That’s the transformative part for us in the next twenty years.”
Whaley said 80% of Dayton children are behind already when they start kindergarten, but she cited the City of Learners Committee, the Mentoring Collaborative, and the Read On program as three approaches Dayton was taking to tackle the problem.
