Mayor Julian Castro on Building a City's 'Brain Power'

This week we're exploring the economy of San Antonio in-depth. Yesterday, we examined the city's burgeoning tech scene. Wednesday, we covered the city's plan to find students good jobs out of high school.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro had barely finished delivering the keynote address at last summer's Democratic National Convention before party leaders started daydreaming about turning Texas back into a blue state. The 38-year-old San Antonio native is one of the party's most high-profile Hispanic politicians at a time when Democrats are enjoying record support from Hispanic voters. He also leads a city with a relatively young population, and is using his office to promote policies that better prepare future workers to succeed in a changing economy. Last year, Castro successfully championed a ballot initiative--Pre-K 4 SA--that expanded access to pre-kindergarten education for poor and middle-class children by raising the city sales tax.