Say Yes Cleveland

A County Council member on Thursday blasted those who proposed the funding model for the Say Yes Cleveland scholarship program’s wrap-around services, alleging they “overpromised” and “underdelivered,” forcing the county to cover the costs for the program.

Cleveland City Council Monday approved a new $10 million workforce development initiative Monday, meant to be the a new-to-Cleveland collaborative approach across multiple partners to build a pipeline to train new workers.

Two requests for use of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act dollars on education and workforce development initiatives made it out of a Cleveland City Council committee meeting Tuesday, but not until after facing some tough questions from council members.

A Cuyahoga County Council committee Wednesday advanced a $1 million proposal to help close a gap in the funding for family support services offered as part of Cleveland’s Say Yes scholarship program.

Education hasn’t been widely discussed during recent candidate forums for Cuyahoga County executive candidates, but the county does play a significant role in funding and running some programs around education, workforce development and pre-kindergarten learning. The two executive candidates give their thoughts on education policy.

The race is on for Say Yes Cleveland to find enough money to plug a $4 million-plus gap left after Cuyahoga County Council cut funding for the family support specialist program that Say Yes provides.

Cuyahoga County Council voted Tuesday evening to appropriate $4.9 million to fund family support specialists for the Say Yes Cleveland program. That's an almost 50% reduction in what the county had initially budgeted to pay for the program, now in its fourth year.

While Say Yes Cleveland – which started in 2019 - is mainly known as a “college promise” program, which pays for the tuition of CMSD students who attend four years of high school and live in the district, the role of family support specialists in local schools goes far beyond preparation for higher education.

Outgoing Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon was instrumental in development of the Cleveland Plan to reform the city’s public education system, a plan that Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb says he wants to “double down” on in partnership with the next CEO.

Gordon will step down at the end of the school year, after 11 years leading the district. He oversaw a significant period of transition and improvement at CMSD.