Well, it’s “back to school” week in Fresno so that means that summer is winding down, vacations are over and everything is getting back into full swing. While I’ve stayed very busy with the campaign, my family and I also enjoyed spending some relaxing time together. I hope you were able to do the same thing.

It was encouraging to hear last week about the improvements in student performance in the Fresno Unified School District. For the third straight year, Fresno Unified students scored better on Math and English Language tests that the year before. Much more work remains to be done, of course, to ensure students in Fresno – no matter what part of the city they live in – are learning the skills they need to succeed.

I was also very pleased that Fresno Unified and the City of Fresno held a joint meeting recently. While it was an overdue discussion, it was an important first step in building a working relationship that can benefit both in a variety of ways – including saving taxpayer dollars. As Mayor, I’d have similar discussions with all of our local school districts, from Central Unified to West Fresno.

The days of individual organizations working in silos – disengaged from each other – has to end if Fresno is going to be the top tier city it needs to become.