CPS superintendent outlines priorities for school year at annual State of the Schools

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - School for about 35,000 students in Cincinnati Public Schools begins Wednesday, August 17 .

The district's superintendent delivered her "State of the Schools" speech August 12.

Mary Ronan set the tone for the upcoming school year. The key issues were a preschool expansion and a $48 million tax levy on the November ballot.

Fifteen million dollars of that would go to help pay for the preschool expansion. That would be for both CPS slots and also to provide tuition assistance to parents with low incomes who want to send their kids to private preschool.

"This is really a historic moment. We are partnering with the preschool promise, we are partnering with the business community, we are working with the mayor on his poverty initiative and also AMOS' People's Platform. All of these individuals, organizations and groups have come together and said let's improve our city, let's break that cycle of poverty, and let's get it done. And our levy is still the mechanism to fund this."

Experts said high quality pre-school helps children succeed in kindergarten and beyond. The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $277 per year.