Sanders did not try to dodge responsibility for the poor showing of Cleveland students on last years' standardized tests. Indeed, it was a buck-stops-here sort of message
SANDERS: Let me be clear. We offer no excuses. We simply did not achieve at the level that meets anyone's expectations.
But Sanders did not spend a great deal of time explaining what had happened. Instead he pointed to the future. He said a new planning process will help shape and customize the academic goals of each individual school. He also talked about the promise of two single sex schools that opened last year, and two new Science and technology academies, or STEM schools, opening next week.
SANDERS: In these schools, students will be engaged in a dynamic and rigorous curriculum of project-based learning and teachers will be there because of their passion and excellence in teaching project-based curriculum.
One bright spot in the report card, Sanders said, is that the graduation rate last year was up seven percent, and 12 percent over two years ago.