Business leaders say Cleveland schools need change now, declare support for Academic Transformation Plan

Tuesday, June 01, 2010


Cleveland, Ohio—A group of Cleveland’s leading business executives voted today to publicly declare support for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s (CMSD) Academic Transformation Plan, asserting, “For too long, Cleveland’s public schools have been failing—most importantly, failing our city’s children by inadequately preparing them to succeed, which in turn hurts all of us.”

At a meeting of the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s (GCP) Board of Directors, members voted to approve an open letter to the community that will run as a full-page ad in Thursday’s Plain Dealer.

“Our board members feel strongly that the school system is badly broken and that drastic change is needed—now,” said GCP Board Chair William F. Christopher, president and CEO of Alcoa Engineered Products and Solutions. “Too many schools are failing, too many children aren’t learning, and the size and cost of the District is dramatically out of line with its reduced enrollment. None of the companies we represent could survive under comparable circumstances.”

The open letter states, in part:

“Sadly, three-quarters of CMSD schools have earned one of the two lowest ratings—academic emergency or academic watch—on the state’s ‘report card,’ with the low test scores and graduation rates that highlight student failure.

“What’s more, because enrollment has declined much faster over the past decade than the number of schools or employees, the district faces a steadily rising deficit of more than $50 million for the 2010-2011 school year – a shortfall that is prohibited by Ohio law.

“Clearly, the cost-reduction elements of the transformation plan are an absolute necessity, and we encourage all parties to be creative and willing to compromise in order to achieve them. But that is just the beginning.

“Even more important is understanding how to make the remaining schools work better, and the transformation plan does that. The success of several innovative CMSD school models provides evidence that flexibility is important and accountability is essential. All professionals in the system must be held accountable for their performance and cannot be allowed to impede the major changes needed to improve student success.”

“We are strongly in favor of the transformation plan’s guiding principles and its goals for vastly improved educational outcomes,” said GCP President and CEO Joe Roman. “The plan calls for the significant level of change required to turn the system around. What’s most promising to us is that Cleveland has several high-performing schools that show what it will take to make its other schools more successful.

“The administration has to be restructured, and we applaud the fact that this has already started. Labor rules that have allowed failure to become entrenched need to be changed so that success at teaching children outweighs all other factors, and we encourage the two parties to embrace that goal in their current negotiations.”

The GCP Board’s letter concludes by calling for community-wide support for the transformation plan.

“The plan is built around right-sizing the district and growing, refocusing and repurposing schools to ensure quality education in every neighborhood. It includes creating ‘choice’ programs throughout the city to serve diverse learning needs, establishing relevant career- and college-ready options at the high school level, selectively partnering with charter schools, better balancing merit and seniority when staffing schools, and much more.

“We know that change will not be easy. But we support efforts of the district and Dr. Sanders with the hope that everyone with a stake in quality education—that is, parents, teachers, staff, administrators and the entire community—will work together toward the plan’s success.” 

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As an association of business members, the Greater Cleveland Partnership mobilizes private-sector leadership, expertise and resources to create jobs and leverage investment to improve the economic vitality of the region.
www.gcpartnership.com

 

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