Here is my note on this to a similar posting on Facebook:

I've done lots of corporate consulting - right-sizing - for some of the best companies in the world - CMSD wouldn't survive a day in the real world. But. the reason for the layoffs of teachers and closing of schools is simple - low demand - ...everyone black and white has abandoned the East Side because of the toxicity here, and Jackson is bulldozing everything. No need for schools where there are no people. Check out the East Side of Cleveland on Mapping America: Every City, Every Block on NYTimes.com and you'll see where the remaining people are by race, income, education, etc... nice GIS tool - http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer - fire away!

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Get ready for the highways, for CCF expansion, and a new park system of green space in Cleveland within the next 15 years....

STOP LIVING IN TUNNELVISION and ACTING CONFUSED ABOUT FACTUAL DATA THAT EXISTS ABOUT THE LONG TERM OBJECTIVES OF OUR CITY LEADERSHIP!!!!! 

GET INVOLVED, CHECK OUT THE MAPS, KNOW THE MASTER PLANS, AND START TO REACT EFFECTIVELY TO THE SPENDING HABITS OF YOUR CITY COUNCIL.....THEY ARE PLAYING GOD WITH THE FUTURE OF CLEVELAND....

EITHER STAY AND PLAY THEIR WAY, UNITE AND DISRUPT THE ABUSIVE PRACTICES, OR MOVE AWAY....

BUT PLEASE QUIT DIVIDING THE LEFTOVER RESIDENTS ON "RACE CARD" ISSUES.... I STILL KNOW COUNTLESS WHITE, HISPANIC, ASIAN, AND OTHER FAMILIES WHO LIVE ON THE EAST SIDE AND WHO ARE BEING ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY THESE CHALLENGES...

MOREOVER, WHY DIDN'T THEY INVEST ALL THE ENERGY THAT WENT INTO JOHN HAY HIGH SCHOOL INTO A "WEST SIDE" SCHOOL? THEY PUT THAT RIGHT IN YOUR BACK YARDS AND YOU FORGET ABOUT HOW THE WEST SIDERS MUST TRAVEL ACROSS TOWN IF THEY WANT TO GET THAT HIGH SPEED EDUCATION THROUGH THE CMSD???? PLEASE STOP THE RACE CARD ISSUES ON THIS MATTER AND RECOGNIZE THE BIG PICTURE!!!

Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"

from the previous leaders....who were "masters" of abusive practices! 

Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"

And what is a black school? If my white kids go to East Cleveland schools, are they going to a black school or a public school with a largely black base population? Should they expect black education and what is that?

Will they receive education designed for "black" children or for lead poisoned children, black and white, as that defines 30%+ of our children here of all races.

What has happened to the East Side black population to make them go away - lead poisoning and pollution, mutation and toxification, perhaps? Brain damage!

I moved to the East Side and am alone here shutting down the pollution - where are the black leaders of my community on this issue killing the community?

When it is safe to live here, all sorts of people will move back... our problems on the East Side are less with race and more with pollution and resulting poor public health.

Why did all residents here let industrialists destroy the land, our homes and families for decades longer than necessary?

I emailed you about these truths.

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Keep opening up people's eyes so that they can see the big picture... Great job! 

Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"

Racism is obviously alive and well--Kathy Wray Coleman--I would have a problem if they targeted all students on the West Side believe it are not. They are racist and incompetent and do not need defending. They are anti-student--Kathy Wray Coleman--Is there a formula for people who do not care about kids?

The owner of Mittal is Indian. He kills more blacks, whites, latinos and foks of all other races than anyone in town.

He kills the schools. He kills the neighborhoods.

How many blacks work at Mittal Cleveland Works? In management there? In management anywhere in the world with Mittal?

How does that fit into your race formulas?

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I don't have a race formula but I am familiar with the phenomenon of institutional racism and sexism--Kathy Wray Coleman

how we react to it is probably the most invaluable ability we have in our worlds...

Several weeks ago; I was asked by another CMSD family(Black) to help them by giving the  husband a ride to pick up a piece of scrap and hauling it to a scrap yard so that they could have money for toilet paper and basics in their home. Our children have been great friends since 1st grade and we as parents have been very good friends for that duration. It was a blizzard snow storm that day and I had to make a stop and parked in a parking lot that resulted in being STUCK in the snow... Before I had gotten stuck in that snow; I had just got done helping another guy get unstuck by asking the parking lot plow driver & helper to help me to help him get unstuck... all was cool as we were 3 white folks helping some guy get unstuck. All was chipper, comedy, laughes, and non chalant chat...no problems while we worked together to get that guy unstuck... I told the plow driver that I knew I was going to be stuck and asked them to come help me get out as well. They followed me to my vehicle where my friend was waiting in the vehicle.... It was at that moment that the disdain, denial of assistance, and complete "F... You" attitude of the white plow driver's kicked in and they pulled away and totally abandoned me in getting unstuck from the snow... For the next 45 minutes; my friend and I busted our rears trying to shovel out of the parking area, push out, spin out, and I nearly burnt out the transmission trying to get unstuck...all the while; the plow drivers wouldn't even plow the area that was preventing me from getting out of this pinch... They even parked a couple times and "Watched the show" from a few areas away....smirking & laughing at the "insanity" that had become attempting to get out of that parking lot.

Finally; I went over to the plow truck and asked them to 'at minimum plow the little area' that was preventing me from getting unstuck... The completely 180 degree turn in attitude was amazing...It was blatantly full of disgust and absolute "oh well, that's not our problem".... Racist was the word... I had enough....

Yes, at that moment I called them out about their "RACISM" and their choices to smugly laugh at the fact that we were stuck...particulary after they had been so nice up to the moment they "SAW THE BLACK GUY" in my vehicle. They found that even cuter as they readily admitted it was true... as though to tell me that there was nothing I could do to them for their actions... that was until I noted to them that this was a CITY OF CLEVELAND PARKING LOT AND THAT THEY WERE UNDER A CITY CONTRACT WHICH I WAS GOING TO MAKE SURE THEY LOST after such unacceptable behavior.... That most certainly got their attention and forced their hand to "do their jobs" or LOSE THEM! 

Truly....it was quite awesome watching them make a decision to get off their smug asses and plow that area as required in their contract....so that we could get out of that parking lot.....

My black friend had told me to "let it be" about five times before this point... he said he is used to dealing with RACISM daily. Frankly, that event disgusted me so much that I couldn't take them to the scrap yard and we never made it. I gave them the money I had that day and they repaid me the next day. Yet, seeing the behaviors first hand of blatantly racist folks who have NO CLUE WHY this blonde haired blue eyed white woman was in a car with a very dark chocolate black guy.... simply galled me to no end. Truly, it sent me into tears just hearing about the daily taunts, jeers, and disrespect that my dear friends endure; particularly up in the W.117/Clifton/Detroit area.

I am white...and I was enraged, angry, and disillusioned by the behaviors of my own race. I was irate and yes, I called those guys out...and there was my black friend telling me to "CALM DOWN!" Yes, my reactions could have led to unsavory events....but at that point....IT WAS ON and those guys realized I was NOT playing anymore with their ignorant behinds...

Yes, racism is alive and well... I have experienced it...

But BLACK PEOPLE are not the only people who are receivers of it....

It's amazing to have friends of many diverse ethnic backgrounds...but it's ugly to be subjected to racism....and forced to "REACT TO IT" or "IGNORE IT"....

Perhaps it was yet another learning experience that I shall have to chart in this lifetime.... Prayerfully next time I will be more patient with the people dishing it out.... Hopefully I will find it within myself to keep my tongue too.

Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"

 You are lucky if you live in these designated areas....but if you live in the "colorless" areas of the City...it's time for you to start investigating, learning, and getting proactive in your community.......Life is about to change over these next 15 years in Cleveland into a totally different direction.... Think about the old out and the new coming in which include: 

Medical Mart

Casino

Lakefront Development

Aquarium

Flats Development

Hospitals Expanding

It'll be nice for anyone associated with these entities.... but for the low income...look out! (at least the remaining low income will sustain the multi billion dollar NOT FOR PROFIT (Community Development Corporations & Social Services locally).....or will the true numbers of demographics ultimately implode these other industries through this period? 

Are parents in our City beginning to think and educate their kids for future opportunities here in Cleveland in these industries? 

Is your personal vision sustainable considering the plans to demo so much of Cleveland? What do you know about your specific neighborhood's plans? Have you participated in the public participation hearings? Have you voted on plans? Have you considered these plans when you bought a home or invested in a Cleveland neighborhood? Are you on good terms with the Community Developers who are planning your future? Are you even aware of these behind the scenes "MASTER PLANS" that are dictating your future? Do you care? 

Euclid Corridor, the Opportunity Corridor, and the Empowerment Zone are just 3 federally funded projects targeting "predominantly black communities".... should I be pitching a complaint about the deprivation to what "used to be" predominantly white neighborhoods (Actually quite diverse white neighborhoods consisting of countless caucasian ethnic groups like Irish, Italian, Slovenian, Ukranian, Polish.) The Near West Side of Ward 14 in the city of Cleveland has taken a beating along the way too and been deprived of our demographically deserved HUD FUNDING ALLOCATIONS because our City Council redistributed it to the Detroit Shoreway, Ohio City, and Tremont neighborhoods....  How many of those ill affordable units were created for the low income with HUD DOLLARS through community development block grant funding resources???? Tax abatments and much more have been benefiting the "connected for all too long!"

Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"

Today's PD offers more financial details on the impacts to local school districts from changes in state funding and payments into union pensions:

Ohio school districts would save $229 million from shift in pension payments proposed by Gov. John Kasich
Published: Saturday, April 09, 2011, 5:15 AM     Updated: Saturday, April 09, 2011, 11:07 AM
Patrick O'Donnell, The Plain Dealer

Cleveland schools, which recently announced plans to lay off more than 600 teachers are close seven schools, would turn a nearly $1.8 million aid cut next school year into just short of a $7 million gain if Gov. John Kasich's proposal on pensions is approved.

Gov. John Kasich's plan to have public employees pay more into their retirement plans while their employers pay less would save school districts $229 million a year, according to the Ohio Office of Budget and Management.

In all, that would save Ohio school districts more than half the $400 million in the state aid that Kasich would cut by 2013. But the actual amounts realized by individual school systems can vary widely.

Ten school districts in Northeast Ohio would see their pension costs fall by more than $1 million a year, with Cleveland saving $8.7 million, Akron almost $3.9 million and the Parma schools nearly $1.7 million, should the state legislature approve the plan.

For Cleveland, that would turn a nearly $1.8 million aid cut next school year into just short of a $7 million gain. Euclid schools would see their aid reduced by about $555,000 but would save $993,000 in pension costs. A small number of districts, like East Cleveland, would gain more aid and save on pensions.

Yet, in other Cuyahoga County districts, like Brooklyn, Chagrin Falls and Westlake, the pension savings would cover only a fraction of the aid cuts.

Tim Keen, director of the OBM, stressed the pension changes make up much of the losses in aid, particularly for the poorer districts.

"We're trying to ensure that the districts that have trouble raising money locally and depend on state aid are protected," he said. 

Read the rest of the story at Ohio school districts would save $229 million from shift in pension payments proposed by Gov. John Kasich

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