DETROIT – Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan delivered his 2018 State of the City speech on Tuesday night in Detroit.
It was Duggan's fifth State of the City address, and comes after he was re-elected to office in 2017. The speech took place at Western International High School.
Five years ago, Duggan addressed the basics, such as getting the streetlights on. Now that the exodus has been stemmed and lights and clean streets are the norm, it was time to tackle the dysfunctional school district and generational joblessness.
Duggan, the Detroit Public Schools Community District and the charters that operate in the city had a summit and agreed it's time to work together. What does that mean? For starters, Duggan said it means coming up with a bus system that can move children around the city.
Duggan showed a visual of a well-executed school bus route in River Rouge. It shows how many buses they run, taking children out of the city to go to Rouge schools.
DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said he welcomes the help.
Duggan committed resources to help with career tech, not just the millions devoted to the Detroit Promise for two-year and four-year college degrees.
A massive part of Duggan's speech was devoted to job training programs for adults.
"So whatever kind of job is in your heart, there's a good chance we have the training program for you," Duggan said.
You can watch Mayor Duggan's full speech in the video posted below.
Local 4's Devin Scillian and Kimberly Gill spoke to experts about Duggan's speech after he finished. You can watch that full conversation below: