MAYOR ADDRESSES STATE OF CITY, GOVERNMENT
Calls on community and other leaders to take bold action to improve schools Announces funding for Metro Police Department DNA lab
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 13, 2008) -Mayor Karl Dean made the 45th annual State of Metro address from the Grand Reading Room at the Downtown Public Library today on the anniversary of the signing of the Cumberland Compact.
Dean said the compact, as the first governing document for Fort Nashborough, was “a reminder to us today that the decisions we make now … create the city that future residents will live in tomorrow.”
Throughout the address, Dean reinforced his top priorities, namely education and public safety. These are the issues Dean has spent the majority of his time working on since taking office eight months ago. He also proposed a budget to Metro Council in March that he said reflects these priorities.
Today Dean announced two new initiatives coinciding with his focus on education and public safety. Dean announced Nashville has been selected to participate in an initiative with the National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education and Families to bring a network of high school alternatives to Metro Nashville Public Schools.
“This partnership will bring additional smaller-learning communities to our district, like the Big Picture School that started this year. It means we will be taking a positive step toward meeting more of our students’ needs,” Dean said. “This partnership is an opportunity. But I want to be clear, it is not a panacea. We need to continue to look for ways to innovate and to challenge the status quo.”
Nashville was chosen as one of only two cities for the Alternative High School Initiative as part of a competitive bid process, which was led by staff from Dean’s office and Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors.
“This process will allow local government and Metro schools to work in cooperation with community groups to develop creative learning environments that allow students to succeed. It has taken a lot of work by a lot of partners to get to this point and we look forward to the coming year,” Neighbors said.
Dean also announced he will propose funding the capital budget for a DNA lab for Metro Police.
“Our police department currently relies on the TBI for this service, but so does more than 400 other state, county and municipal law enforcement agencies in Tennessee. ... I believe with our own DNA lab, more criminal suspects will be identified and arrested, making your family safer and mine,” Dean said.
View the State of Metro Address
For media inquiries contact:
Bonna Johnson
615-862-6461
bonna.johnson@nashville.gov