Listen up, employers and anyone concerned about San Antonio’s economy —

More than 90% of Texas students attend public schools. In San Antonio, only about 50% of high school graduates go to college, and even fewer complete degrees. Meanwhile, our city faces a skills gap — we don’t have enough local talent for high-demand, high-wage jobs, forcing employers to hire from elsewhere. Our most important workforce training system is our local public schools.

Years ago, when I worked for Mayor Julián Castro, San Antonio’s school superintendents gathered to discuss education. A rural superintendent shut the door and told his colleagues: We can’t wait for Austin or D.C. to save us. We need to act locally. We need that mindset today.

History tells us local public schools will continue to serve the vast majority of students. As Executive Director of CAST Schools, I worked with four public school districts to create innovative, career-connected school models. We launched CAST Tech in 2017 and now have seven schools, including a Pre-K-12 academy and a middle school. 

We need to ensure our public schools catalyze economic mobility in a city still struggling with concentrated poverty and income inequality. Colleges and universities are critical — they give cities like Austin, Boston, and Silicon Valley their edge. A growing and thriving UTSA is critical to our city’s economic success, and over time, the UTSA + UT Health merger should strengthen that. But many of the top jobs, both nationally and here, do not require 4-year college degrees.

Let’s start with what’s working. San Antonio is home to Alamo Colleges, one of the largest public higher ed systems in the country, serving more than 77,000 students annually. They provide transfer pathways to four-year universities, but also offer certificates and workforce training aligned with real industry demand. But even Alamo Colleges can’t do their job unless our K–12 public schools do theirs.

We’ve made bold local investments before. San Antonio is the only major Texas city to use sales tax dollars for education—not once, but twice. First with Pre-K 4 SA, and later with Ready to Work, an apprenticeship-driven program that aims to close the skills gap. 

With AI and automation reshaping the economy, we need to double down on career-connected learning, especially for students in communities that have been historically left behind. Employers need to shift their thinking from one who hires talent, to one who co-educates and co-creates.

Business leaders: Speak up about school funding — to lawmakers, lobbyists, and business networks — with urgency. Texas ranks in the bottom 10 states for public school investment. Districts are operating in the red, and it’s getting worse.

Push Texas to move away from measuring seat time and start measuring what students know. The national shift toward competency-based education is happening — and Texas is behind. We’re one of the few states still funding based on attendance, not enrollment.

But don’t wait on the state. So much can be done locally — and not all of it costs money.

Here’s a little-known fact: youth employment is one of the strongest predictors of adult employment — perhaps even more so than academic achievement. A U.S. Department of Labor study found that for every year a teen worked, their income grew 14-16% in their 20s. Youth employment builds durable skills: responsibility, time management, relationships with adults, and more.

We need schools to prepare young people for work — but we also need employers to hire them. At CAST Schools, career-connected learning includes professional speakers, mentorship, real-world projects, internships, and pre-apprenticeships. We work with employers who believe in what we call “the long interview” — building relationships over time.

Companies like CPS Energy, H-E-B, Toyota, Toyotetsu, and the SAVE Clinic value this approach — giving both the young person and employer time to ensure a good fit. (See the full list of our employer partners on our website — we’re grateful to every one of them.)

One of our first CAST Tech graduates, Hezron Perez started as an intern at Plus One Robotics, working 20 hours a week first in high school, and later while studying computer science at UTSA. Today he’s a full-time software developer at Plus One and pursuing his master’s at UTSA. Another CAST Tech graduate, Fernando Garcia, won an esports scholarship to Texas A&M-San Antonio, but when the esports team fell apart, he leveraged his CAST network to obtain a job at Tech Port and SAMSAT, where he now works as a videographer while earning his degree in Radio-TV-Film from San Antonio College. Though all paths are not linear, connections to the labor force propel our students forward and give them a clear sense of direction.

The bottom line? As federal and state governments pull back their investment in public education, San Antonio has a choice to make. We can retreat, or we can lead. As federal and state governments reduce their investment in public schools, we have an opportunity to treat our public schools not as a charity, but as an investment worthy of our time, leadership, talent and advocacy.

Let’s commit to ensuring every young person in San Antonio has access to a high-quality education connected to career opportunities right here. The future of our workforce — and our prosperity — depends on it.

Who’s ready to step up?