Bush Institute Releases State of Our Cities: Profiles of Education Performance around the Nation
By Office of Communication
Posted on September 21, 2016, September 21, 2016

The Bush Institute at the George W. Bush Presidential Center has released State of Our Cities: Profiles of Education Performance around the Nation, a new online tool that provides comparable education data on more than 100 cities across the country.

The interactive resource, designed to help mayors better engage in their city's education landscape, was previewed this morning at a Mayors Roundtable hosted by the Bush Institute, which welcomed mayors and superintendents from across Texas for a discussion on education and how their cities are performing.

"Educators, parents, policymakers, and importantly, our mayors, need access to objective, comparable data so that they can make decisions to support the success of all students in their communities," said Holly Kuzmich, Executive Director of the Bush Institute. "Mayors and state and local policymakers have an even greater role to play than ever before in improving the schools in their cities, and this tool is an especially valuable resource for them."

State of Our Cities is the updated and enhanced version of the Mayors' Report Card on Education, which covered education metrics for 33 cities and was first released at the request of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings in January 2015 at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting. While education data has been collected and aggregated at the state level, the Mayors ' Report Card was the first time that data was collected and aggregated at the city level.

The State of Our Cities tool includes data on 114 cities, including Arlington, and allows users to make comparisons at the state, national, and even global level by including data from the Bush Institute 's Global Report Card, allowing city leaders, policymakers, parents, and educators to compare their community's scores with global competitors.

The data outlines performance on indicators including: a high-quality education for every student; supported pathways to college and career; early childhood education that prepares students for the
classroom; and effective educators and principals. Armed with these observations and data as a starting point, mayors can work with their communities to address important needs or accelerate change.

At Tuesday's roundtable, Mayor Rawlings was joined by Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne, and Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams for the discussion, along with other leaders including Arlington I.S.D. Superintendent Marcelo Cavazos and Arlington City Councilwoman Victoria Farrar-Myers.

To view the State of Our Cities and learn more about our work, visit: www.bushcenter.org/stateofourcities.

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