In his 7 th annual State of the Schools Address, Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon touched on the district’s failing grades on the state report card that was released this month, but said the biggest challenge facing children in his district isn’t accounted for in those metrics.
In order to see students succeed, Gordon said the district is going to have to change the conditions its children live in, taking on generational poverty.
He said it’s a community-wide issue that some parts of Cleveland are successfully tackling and now it’s time to share those success stories, working with low-performing schools to implement changes.
“We don’t have to go across the world to see what good looks like, we have to go across town,” Gordon said.
Gordon said Wednesday he also intends to take on poverty, at least in part, with a potential new partnership with the national nonprofit Say Yes to Education.
About a year ago, the district began working with city and county officials to submit an application to become a Say Yes Community.
The group provides financial and other resources to cities to promote college readiness and affordability. Their efforts include providing and helping to raise scholarship funds for students, school-based health and legal services, and mentoring.
Gordon called it both an education and economic development effort.
“Say Yes takes the long view, recognizing for example that by dramatically increasing the college attainment levels of a city over time, we can cut in half the unemployment levels for that city,” he said.
While the city hasn’t been chosen as a Say Yes location yet, Cleveland submitted its official proposal to the group in May.
In a press release issued by Say Yes after the submission, the organization said Cleveland was making “good, early progress” on its bid.
If successful, Cleveland will need to raise an estimated $100 million dollars for the program to fund scholarships for Cleveland high school graduates who go to college or pursue other postsecondary programs.
