Saint Martin dePorres High School opened in 2004. Four years later, 100 percent of its 100 graduating seniors were accepted to college. In a state where one in four schoolers doesn't even graduate, the school's success is even more notable. Richard Clark,who is the school's president and founder, told the City Club that the problems of urban education are like a plague, and that every kind of school should be involved in its cure.
CLARK: What if thousands of people needed medical assistance all at once Wouldn't all the hospitals be part of the solution, even if in some there were rabbis, or imams or priests?"
Clark said it's time for the government to fund any kind of school that educates the public, not just public schools.
CLARK: "Educational innovation and overall improvement will go a lot faster if the charter school limits and funding rules for private schools are changed."
If that happened, Clark said that by 2020, 80 percent of Cleveland's graduating seniors could leave high school ready for college.
Kymberli Hagelberg, 90.3