Education serves as a foundation for some of our most important initiatives.

• • Should Santa Ana succeed in teaching the children of our community, we would be training tomorrow’s workforce.
  • A well-educated workforce is good for local business.
  • Well-educated workers are more likely to be productive, high performing, law abiding and healthy.

All this leads to more competitive Santa Ana companies and a stronger local economy.

The mechanics of transforming neighborhoods of distress into neighborhoods of promise requires more than just housing redevelopment. Urban planning must unite with educational reform in order to create sustainable neighborhoods.

The City Council’s collaboration with the Santa Ana Unified School District to drive comprehensive change and positive outcomes is not simply a radical idea – it is a critical imperative. However, during the last three years, strife and ego have nearly destroyed the collective relationship. (Kudos to the individual councilmembers who have worked with the SAUSD on isolated matters.)

Like any relationship, there have been highs and there have been lows. We have been languishing in the current low for too long.

Katz welcomes the opportunity to lead the City back to a period of productive collaboration with the SAUSD. In fact, Katz believes that the stakeholders should include the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce and Santa Ana Community College.

In 1990, Santa Ana adopted the city slogan: “Education First.” Katz and fellow councilmembers must continuously beat the drum to strengthen public support for quality public education. We should use our influence 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.

It takes a village to educate a child.