McCarty’s “Operation College” program paid for the hiring of a full-time counselor devoted to helping students at Hiram Johnson High School apply for college. Since then, applications have gone up by 60%.

McCarty says it shows that by targeting resources you can make a difference.

"These kids – from working class families – many of their parents didn’t go to college and they didn’t have information at home to learn about the college process and their guidance counselors are dealing with other stuff, it’s really hard to navigate the college process so we saw a void and we decided to step it up and we’ve made a difference."

The pilot program was paid for with money from a home developer and Councilman McCarty himself. He says there are plans to set up more “Operation College” programs in other Sacramento schools.