Program Directory

 
Cleveland Connects - Transforming Cleveland's Schools
 
 
 
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Schools CEO Eric Gordon spent much of last year first developing a consensus plan to change how the city's schools operate, then winning approval for it from the Ohio General Assembly and finally convincing voters to accept a 15-mill levy to pay for their reforms. Now comes the really hard part: Taking those tools and using them to actually transform the educational experience for thousands of youngsters.

We'll discuss how they plan to proceed -- and how the community will be able to monitor progress -- in the fourth installment of our Cleveland Connects community conversation series. Mayor Jackson will define the stakes for the city and the region, and then CEO Gordon and a panel of stakeholders will discuss how they can tackle challenges that have been building for decades.

¿ Moderator, Joe Frolik, Chief Editorial Writer at The Plain Dealer, spearheaded the "Quiet Crisis" project that helped spawn a series of public-private initiatives aimed at making the Greater Cleveland region more economically competitive.

¿ Frank G. Jackson, the 56th Mayor of Cleveland, graduated from Cleveland Public Schools, earned an associate's degree from Tri-C and his bachelor's, master's, and law degrees from CSU. Mayor Jackson is focused on ensuring that the city offers an excellent quality of life, which includes Crafting Cleveland's Plan for Transforming Schools, a child-centered plan that would lead to systemic change.

¿ Eric Gordon, was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District after serving as its Chief Academic Officer from 2007-2011. Mr. Gordon was one of the major architects of the District's Academic Transformation Plan that garnered national recognition for its dramatic approach to top-to-bottom school reform.

¿ David Quolke, President of the 6,000-member Cleveland Teachers Union since 2008. Prior to being elected president of the CTU, he worked individually with visually impaired students.
February 11, 2013