6/8/2011 4:38:00 PMGordon's step-up to CEO: Editorial

June 8, 2011  4:35 AM

 By The Plain Dealer Editorial Board

The Cleveland public schools have been walloped with surprises recently, but the latest is the best.

After conducting a national CEO search that produced three underwhelming out-of-town candidates, Mayor Frank Jackson and the Cleveland school board chose an excellent leader close to home: Eric Gordon, 40, the district's chief academic officer for the last four years.

Gordon is still negotiating his compensation, but the plan is to give him a one-year contract, which will let his bosses see if he can step seamlessly into the job and begin meaningful change in the district's academic trajectory.

Gordon worked under former CEO Eugene Sanders, who retired unexpectedly last February -- the last big surprise. But Gordon has always been more than a worker bee. As the chief mastermind of Sanders' plan to focus on and fix each school's weaknesses -- and close underperforming schools -- Gordon represents continuity in the district's all-important transformation plan.

He is steady, sharp and smart with not an ounce of stuffiness, which has helped him relate well to Cleveland's diverse community. He'll start the job already knowing the district and its key players.

Interim CEO Peter Raskind, the former CEO of National City Bank, who has spent his retirement shoring up wobbly institutions for just $1 a year, bequeaths an innovative two-year budget that will give Gordon breathing room to improve education for Cleveland's youngsters in even the poorest neighborhoods.

Gordon probably knows better than most that it won't be easy. The district has less money, fewer students and more challenges, thanks to a flimsy state government safety net for poor families.

The old shibboleths won't work. Gordon, too, may find he needs to leave his old academic safety zone to come up with something truly different.