I really think that Tremont was thrown into the funeral pyre along with the east side schools, just to give Cimperman a chance to play the hero one more time before he runs for county executive. 

Of course, I hope that any show of public outcry is successful in saving Tremont and all of our schools, but I am sick of the real estate/contractor shell game we have been subjected to and the PD's sell job on an overpaid hatchet man and his cronies, brought in to take down our schools and neighborhoods in the first place. 

Good schools are messed up intentionally...and, architecturally landmark schools Benjamin Franklin K-8 and John Marshall High School are slated for the wrecking ball on the already overcrowded west side...

And, Councilman Brian Cummins never implemented protection over Ben Franklin Gardens availed to him by the protection put in place for Kentucky Gardens, when that school was demolished and now we have Rokakis' buddy, Brancatelli "safeguarding" the ward....it's all $$$$$ real estate, folks...kids be damned.

Here's PD's poll results on the plan.  So far...it doesn't look like everyone is being fooled...

I don't know who is fooling who in this game but clearly taking hundreds (thousands) of children and re-depositing them in other already over-crowded  schools with not enough teachers is somebody's convoluted way of patting themselves on the back.

I'm thinking that this will force the issue of bringing back bussing - since many parents either don't drive, don't have an available automobile, work and can't be home at the time their kids go to school, have no other means of transporting their children to school.  RTA passes might be alright for some of the older children but I surely don't see putting kindergardeners, first, second or third graders out to catch public transportation by themselves.  

I do think that when they thought this plot up, they must have been sipping something stronger than coffee or tea.  This only leads to more vacant buildings and the demolition cost alone could be money used for bettering educations.

I was really surprised to see Tremont on the list.  I thought Tremont was a thriving community.  I am wondering what they have planned for the Tremont area?  Why do they want to close down that school?

He says that each neighborhood will have a school. The Tremont kids will be sent to W. 46th and Clark. That is a long hike for little kids, and RTA is cutting services, so this is not a happy situation. How does Sanders define a neighborhood? And what is the reference to charters? I need to read more as surely Sanders can't be saying that the duty of educating our kids should be turned over to the voucher system of for profit educators.

Paul Dunbar and Orchard Elementary  were both closed this past summer with the plan to tear down and rebuild. Orchard, the Blue Ribbon school, is now gone under this plan. Get this: the plan calls for reevaluating Dunbar in 2012. Right. The school that is currently closed, the kids and teachers sent elsewhere, that is due for a tear down and a total new building, gets a reevaluation in 2 years. Hey, lets make sure that the tear down and a new building gets put up before it gets closed permanently. We still have money from the tax levy for capital improvements that just got to be spent rather than fixing what will remain open.

Parents did not have a seat at the table for this plan. Sanders and Jackson did. Did either one of them ever consider smaller classroom student to teacher ratios?

And Joe Cimperman, your new ward 3 includes Dunbar. The neighborhood is not up and coming like Tremont, but I hope that you will fight for this school and this neighborhood with the same fervor as the Tremont school. 

 I'm just sitting here quietly watching this play out. As some of you know, we just pulled our son from Tremont - for very valid reasons. Let me just say - we were not impressed - with ANYthing. But, having said that, I also will say I believe in neighborhood schools.

I think the Tremont kids will be sent to Buhrer - the "Montessori" program will go to Thomas Jefferson. Of course I could be wrong AND like all CMSD programs it could change with the wind.

Orchard and Dunbar are a different story. I'll speak for Dunbar. It currently sits surrounded by chain link fence and its parking lot is being rented by St. Ignatius. Our neighborhood group wanted to start some blacktop gardening for the kids (because half the entire school block is blacktop and it is a heat oasis) but then we found out it was closing and put our plans on hold.

I spoke with the director of development for St. Ignatius a year ago and he swore they had no plans what so ever to acquire property south of Chatham (which would include Dunbar) - now or in the future. He also specifically stated they had no plans to acquire Dunbar.

I don't know, maybe the plans stalled.

But yes, you would think that if Cimperman were a grassroots kinda councilman, he would me moving and shaking about schools in his district - not just Tremont.

yo well....

Portland, Oregon is still in our 5 year plan.

  Because of my work schedule and the weather, it will be hard for me to get out to one of the district's meetings which have been incoveniently scheduled to avoid exposing the CEO to the underlying wrath  most of us who live in the city are feeling right now.

The man has NO conscience.  Where are the kids on the east side suppposed to go to school and why would he close East High after it was the school that started the whole warm, dry, safe initiative in the first place and it has a brand new spanking gym built with tax dollars to show for it? 

Why? Because, this is not about kids, it's about money...and the PD's Regina Brett thinks this is just BIG AND BOLD...

 giving it, I mean...

that was one of many issues I had with CMSD - they would announce important meetings at the last moment - a day before - or in worse scenarios, they actually announced a few AFTER they were held... now I don't know if it had something to do with someone's copy machine going down or what, and frankly, I don't care. The end result was it happened to be one of the few things they were consistent about and it made their claims to want parent contact and input a big joke.

That and the fact they had their parent organization meetings at 10 in the morning - ok - like - I don't live in 1954..... I WORK for a living.

I work on Saturday...good luck...please make a scene for me....

 All of this (CMSD Sander's plan) seems so familiar. How many plans have superintendents come up with over the years with grand words of achievements and education and test scores improvements, and yep, more public dollars? Each plan had decimated the CMSD more. (Remember that we lacked teachers so that CMSD recruited from India?) The Mayor and Plain Dealer, every time, push the latest plan and tell us why we should support it and spend more money. The graduation rate barely passes the half way mark. Each time the CEO decides to move on, and gets a behind the scenes negotiated severance packages and leaves Cleveland. We are left to pick up the pieces, but then, the pieces are not being picked up any more as people have lost hope in the school system.

Every plan, each step of the way, has failed to include the foundation of the system: the parents (grandparents these days), the kids, the teachers, and concerned residents. Just a look at how parent-teacher conferences are held, ignoring that parents have jobs, the lack of input by teachers in how their local school should be run, and not freaking asking the users of the schools what they want, dooms us all in Cleveland.

Cleveland is bleeding population, and the layout of the schools, including the number of buildings, have to be reviewed, revamped, and reduced, but with the full participation of foundation of the CMSD community, not by the chosen cronies of the Mayor, the CEO, and the corporations.

So CEO Sanders, in a year or so, you will be history. Thanks for what you are giving us as a parting gift.

I would favor shutting down the whole system and using the voucher program to allow parents to choose the school that best meets the needs of their children.  The Cleveland Public School System has failed.  Discontinue the failed system and allow the private schools to take over the job of educating the children of Cleveland.  I am positive it would be a better option for the children. 

I would favor shutting down the whole system and using the voucher program to allow parents to choose the school that best meets the needs of their children.  The Cleveland Public School System has failed.  Discontinue the failed system and allow the private schools to take over the job of educating the children of Cleveland.  I am positive it would be a better option for the children. 

I do not favor handing the public school system over. The voucher system has harmed public schools, and with the CEO proposing that some buildings be taken over by charter schools, it does seem that either he is accepting defeat or pushing us further toward defeat. I am an opponent of the voucher system. I no longer vocally oppose it as when a kid needs to learn, the school are a dangerous place to be, and you can't move to a place with a better school, well, I will not fight the parent of that child for making a decision in the best interest of their child. That fight should not be between opponent of the voucher system and the parent. It should be between all of us and the school board. Too many have been there and done it, and while not admitting defeat, just do not know what to do. I sure don't know what to do anymore.

Vouchers didn't harm the public schools....the vouchers allowed low income parents to take their children out of non-functioning public schools and enroll them in a higher quality schools.   The voucher program has probably saved a lot of children from getting an inferior education and given them an opportunity for success. 

My grandson started kindergarten at Louis Munoz and it was a horrible experience for him.  There was an eighth grade teacher trying to teach kindergarden children and the classroom was chaotic.  The voucher system allowed him to change schools and attend St. Rocco's School where he is thriving.  Without the voucher system he would have had no choice but to remain in a bad school situation. 

I think the voucher system is the way to go here in Cleveland.  It doesn't have to be a religious school, it can be any privately run school that is in the business of education and has proven to be successful.  Why send our children to failing schools?  What does that prove?  Nothing!  It only hurts the children and ultimately the community when they fail to learn. 

Deb, I agree the voucher system has decimated our school system, diverting funds and talent.  What has happend is just what Al Gore predicted many years ago.  Plus our School Board is a dumping ground for political appointments.....think Gerald Henly (sp?) who, thank God, is no longer a member.  What has happened to our school system is akin to what happened to Cleveland when bussing began.  The backbone of our citizenry fled.

I'm not so sure I don't support Saunder's plan.  Spoke to several teachers last night neither of whom seemed adamently against the plan readily admitting there were too many building for number of students.  We have to do something.  Maybe the neighborhood school is a thing of the past; however desirable. 

Fixing the schools is huge and must be done before Cleveland can move forward.  Deb, I share your indecision. 

Is just fulfilling the PLAN and formulating the complete breakdown of Jeffersonian Democracy. 

Our country has such a long way to go towards realizing a more perfect union.

Here's the poll today:

Sanders spouting code for : Don't worry, you can keep exploiting the system that uses other people's money to make money and live out there in Geauga, Avon and Lake County and send your kids to private school. 

We won't come out there to bother you.  We can take care of our own. 

Read the book.

Yes, Laura, there are examples of charter schools that have taken huge steps toward better education. Canada's program in Harlem is certainly one of them. So is The Intergenerational School. Then there's Montessori, Waldorf, parochial, etc.

So what's your solution? What should Sanders do that he is not promised to do. Granted this is only a plan and plans often go unfinished. But for those of us who are not able to drop what we're reading and pick up Geoffrey Canada's book, what is it that you learned from Canada that you suggest is not represented in this plan?

Should we have charter schools and eliminate the CMSD - kids could be in a lottery and some could go to school and some could just... what?

At Canada's school in Harlem, he is the hero.

We have failed our children. They live in a world where danger lurks all around them and their playgrounds are filled with broken glass, crack vials, and sudden death. And the stuff of our nightmares when we were children is the common reality for children today. Monsters are out there and claiming children in record numbers. And so we must stand up and be visible heroes, fighting for our children. I want people to understand the crisis that our children face and I want people to act. - Geoffrey Canada

So who will determine which teachers have hero qualities? The Union? Canada says if he feels a teacher is not up to his standards, he fires them. Not so easy for a public school leader.

It is interesting to note that the concept and the reality of public education came about with the invention of the steam engine and the rise of the industrial revolution. In his book, The Rise and Fall of Public Education in America: The interdependence of public education and society, R. Winfield Smith discusses how education in America began.

There was a lot of talk in Pennsylvania, both in the halls of the legislature and in n the public arena, of the need for a significant state role in education but little action resulted until voluntarism sprang into action. Voluntarism was a unique American Trait described by Alexis de Tocqueville in his Democracy in America, a four-volume perceptive study of the political and social systems in the US in the early nineteenth century. De Tocqueville noted that wherever at the head of some important new undertaking in France you’ll find the government, in England a man of rank, in America you’re sure to find an association.

So now that we are coming to the end of the industrial revolution’s power, where is the association? Where is the parent teacher organization  who insisted on being a part of Sander’s planning process?

They are human beings...the charter school system will eventually burn itself out, because these human beings are not superhuman.  They do their best and they have a better support network in place to realistically deal with unruly kids, but these teachers will leave for the first public school teaching position, because they want to be able to retire EVENTUALLY.  I agree that unions are not helping to protect the ideals of public education and charter schools are doing good things, because unions don't spend enough time promoting standards that protect children and adults. 

You ask about PTAs in the CMSD system.  Good question.  The District does not encourage real parent engagement.  What about detention?  Remember detentions?  How about truancy...what penalties are imposed on parents for their failure to instill the value of education on their child?

I know that this is not some easy discussion to have in NEO.  But, I see a system flush with money-- and that money has not gone into providing a quality environment for learning. 

There is little to no maintenance of existing facilities and the computer technology at CMSD is pathetic.  The physical building is only important to the District, and to the business interests who really control the District, as construction/architecture and other lucrative contracts to exploit public dollars for profit.

(I should point out that I am NOT at work--I am at home where I type out my diatribes...because I work odd hours...sometimes 12:30-8, sometimes Saturdays and sometimes a "normal" 9-5day...and most of the time, I type out and spew my thoughts in the early hours of the morning, because I can't sleep knowing that other peoples' conscience doesn't keep them AWAKE.)

Good luck, ParentToo--you will save Tremont School, because you care. 

I am convinced that Tremont Montessori was thrown in as a red herring to divert attention from the east side schools that should also NOT be closed.  It's almost impossible to demand accountability from administrators--they know that and they are counting on it.

Big question to ask THIS Saturday--Why would the district close Tremont and keep K-8 Luis Munoz Marin operating when District just built (at considerable cost) new K-8 Buhrer-- across the street???

REMEMBER-THE DISTRICT MEETING ON TREMONT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND OTHER WEST SIDE SCHOOLS IS THIS SATURDAY, JANUARY 9TH--TOMORROW--AT LINCOLN WEST HIGH SCHOOL.

Again, I can't be there--please GO and this means our council reps should be there, too.

The stories you won't see in the Plain Dealer--

I've been a Geoffry Canada fan for years.  His Harlem program is working, showing good results.  Problem is the costs.  Astronomical!  Beyond anything that could be supported around here even with grants. 

CMSD Chief AcadeCEO Sanders shares academic goals for Cleveland Municipal School District
by Chuck Hoven

(Plain Press, November 2007) At an October 1st Community Forum at Zone Recreation Center, Cleveland Metropolitan School District Chief Executive Officer Eugene T.W. Sanders offered some insight into the academic planning for the district.

Dr. Sanders said his administration would be focusing on four key areas as work continues to improve the school district: the achievement gap, graduation rates, innovation and professional development.

Speaking of the achievement gap, Sanders said over the next three years the district would be working to "make our third graders on level with any average third graders in the state of Ohio." As part of that effort Sanders said teacher/student ratios in grades K-3 will be reduced to 1 teacher to every 20 students.

The current graduation rate for Cleveland Metropolitan School District students is 55%, said Sanders. "That is unacceptable. What we have done and what we are doing is laying the framework to advance that percentage to a much higher level," said Sanders. He said an upcoming mandatory meeting with parents of high school seniors would review what was expected of students as they worked to finish their last year of high school and to meet the requirements of the Ohio Graduation Test.

Under the category of innovation, Sanders said the district hoped to open a new high school in the fall of 2008, which would focus on Industrial Design. He said the new school would be a STEM academy focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Other innovations already implemented this year include single-sex elementary schools and the Ginn Academy, which serves high school boys.

The fourth component of the district’s focus, professional development, would include continuing development of teaching and other building staff, developing leaders to help move the school system forward, said Sanders.

Staffing ratios

While Sanders presented a clear goal of 20 students or less per teacher less in grades K-3, goals for other grades and types of staff were less forthcoming. Sanders asked his staff to follow up on a request for additional staffing information from the Plain Press.

mic Officer Eric S. Gordon responded that the goal in grades 4-8 is to have no more than 28 students per teacher. District data indicates that grades K-3 currently average less than 17 students per classroom. In grades 4-8 the district averages less than 23 students per teacher.
At the high school level, Gordon says the district’s goal is that no teacher will have more than a total of 170 students in the teacher’s classes. Although this means an average high school class of 28 students, the district plan does not call for limits to sizes of individual high school classes. No data was provided on current average classroom sizes in the district’s high schools.

Gordon provided the Plain Press with data on the number of CMSD administrative and support personnel in various categories. However, no goals for ideal staffing levels or student to staff ratios were provided. Gordon says that is typically done as part of the annual budgeting process, which was completed for this school year in spring, 2007. Those budgeting decisions are reflected in the number of staff in district data.

The district currently lists 204 people as serving as school administrators with titles such as campus administrators, principals, assistant principals and small group leaders.

The district has 154 media specialists in the K-8 schools and 40 media specialists in the secondary schools.

The district reports 76 speech and hearing therapists, 50 nurses, 25 occupational therapists, 8 physical therapists, 2 mobility therapists and 2 audiologists.

The district has 5 social workers for which it provides funding. It lists 72 guidance counselors and 74 school psychologists.

The CMSD currently has 110 buildings and roughly 55,000 students. While the district lists no student to personnel ratios for these staff, a source familiar with the workload assigned to school psychologists provides some insight into the impact of district staffing levels.

Our source says that in an urban setting each school building should have a full time school psychologist, and there should be a ratio of 300 students to each school psychologist.

The school psychologists are the school personnel best equipped to identify troubled youth and get them into special programs or provide them with needed special services.

Under the current system the CMSD’s 74 school psychologists are not only responsible for testing, evaluations and re-evaluations of the district’s 55,000 students, but also are responsible for reviewing evaluations and re-evaluations of the 19,000 charter school students and additional Cleveland students that use vouchers to attend private schools.

This brings the ratio of students to school psychologists to over 1,000 to one. Under these staffing levels, school psychologists spend much of their time reviewing required evaluation forms and have little time to devote to meeting with students and their families.

 I just had a throughly discouraging conversation with a person that has years of experience working on various issues with Cleveland schools. The money for capital improvements isn't there. Her belief is that the funds are almost exhausted and that schools torn down now likely will not be rebuilt unless there is an influx of fresh money from the state or a levy. The state is broke, and Clevelanders are unlikely to pass a new levy (you think?). The language in the Sanders plan matches a lot of the language in the federal stimulus call for proposals. If granted, the states receives the funding and distributes it to the school districts. If Sanders plan is indeed based on funding from the feds, he is putting too many eggs in one basket. The call for proposals says the the City administration, the school board and the teachers union must all sign off on the proposal and they proposals are due at the end of January.

The state also has limits on how far a kid can walk to get to school then the school must provide transportation, and that cost money too.

So in this grand plan, where so many details are lacking, I find myself so very discouraged about the future of education for the children of Cleveland. Oh, she also said that it is possible that the long term goal of some school districts is to get out of public education, and hand that over to private, charter-type schools, though at that point, I was overwhelmed and no longer listening well.

 How much can we bear in one of the poorest cities in the nation, how much can we pay out for Sanders plan that disregards the hard won achievements in some schools and disregards that RTA plans to cut routes more than ever, that disregards the gang turf issues that heated up at Lincoln West this fall? Money for schools in Ohio largely depend on collections of property taxes and levies. Well, real estate values are down and a levy won't fly. Foundations are not giving as much because they are not getting as much.

Sanders says the school district has a $50,000,000 deficit. To implement the plan, not only does the $50,000,000 deficit have to be addressed, it will cost an additional $20 to 25,000,000 per year just for these steps in the plan.

Here, from his plan, the plan to pay for it. It is what it is.

Securing sustainable funding will require CMSD target multiple sources 

• Creative internal sources (redirecting existing spending) 

• Federal stimulus and school improvement grants 

• Community partnership council support 

• Additional taxpayer support may be needed if other sources are not sufficient