Cleveland Schools CEO Eugene Sanders Steps Down

Posted Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Embed Audio

Download MP3 Play Video

Watch Video

Cleveland Schools CEO Eugene Sanders dropped a bombshell over the weekend: He's stepping down just as his massive academic transformation plan begins. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson must find a new chief executive who can keep the reform rolling while facing a $58 million operating deficit, negotiating new deals with unions and possibly championing a levy. What skills and background must the next schools chief possess and what lessons can be learned from other districts? Join the conversation Wednesday at 9 on the Sound of Ideas.

Guests

Tom Ott, Education Reporter, The Plain Dealer
Keith Reed, Senior Editor, Catalyst Ohio
David Quolke, President, Cleveland Teachers Union
David James, Superintendent, Akron City Schools

Additional Information

Cleveland schools CEO Eugene Sanders confirms departure
Former TPS chief Sanders seeks top post at BGSU

Please follow our community discussion rules when composing your comments.

Joane Johnson 4:54 PM 12/14/10

I compare this to LeBron James. They can do what ever they wanted. Broaden their horizons. Fine. As a black woman, I have no problem with that since we have had very few opportunities to do so in this field, though qualified. I just have a problem with people who do not keep their word. A contract is a word, a bond. It has been broken. I know he caught it from suburbanites who did not send their children to our schools and did not have a voice, nor was it wanted. Worry about your own who are basically dead last in the industrialized world. He pulled a James. He just did it with class.

Patty Bodanza 10:53 AM 12/15/10

I think you’re last speaker, discussing where Superintendents come from, contradicted himself. What he said was that, like football coaches, there’s only a small pool from which to find someone who can “get the job done”. But, if the “job was getting done” then our children would be being educated, our status in the world would not have fallen so dramatically. It sounds very political when the system keeps looking to the handful who are “qualified” yet the system keeps declining. It certainly seems like it’s time to look outside of the normal pool of candidates to someone locally - I can’t believe there is no one in Ohio, even Northeast Ohio who doesn’t have passion, wisdom, vision, and the capabilities to collaborate with all parties interested in pulling these kids out of the dreadful education in which they are stuck. I would like to see someone who can inspire us in the ‘burbs to get involved. We all have a reason to see these kids succeed - they are our future.