2/13/2011 8:00:00 AMInterim CEO Peter Raskind balances Cleveland schools' challenges, employees' spirits
Sunday, February 13, 2011, 5:55
By Thomas Ott, The Plain Dealer
Peter Raskind, interim chief executive officer of the Cleveland schools, quickly discovered a couple of things: The heating system in the district's downtown headquarters has only two temperature settings -- warm and warmer -- and the culture is just as stuffy.
Raskind says to call him Peter, but employees have had trouble budging off ceremony since he took control Feb. 1. Maybe it's an adjustment period, or maybe a worried staff isn't sure how to please the new boss.
Raskind, who was in charge of National City Bank when PNC acquired it two years ago, tries to soothe nerves, telling everyone that a school system is not a for-profit corporation, that its purpose is too vital to focus only on the bottom line. He praises the work force.
"Without exception, I haven't met a single individual yet who isn't exceptionally talented and very much committed to the mission of the school district," he told The Plain Dealer in an interview last week. "I've really been inspired by the people I've met and their commitment to the work."
But the schools are staring at a wave of deficits, starting at $47.5 million next year. Mayor Frank Jackson and the school board will rely on him to steady the operation before handing it over to a long-term replacement, probably in June. He has tough calls to make and leaves no doubt he intends to make them.
"We do face very substantial financial challenges," said Raskind, who asked that he receive only a $1 salary. "How we ultimately address it is going to require sacrifice on all our parts together. They're not going to get met with tucking and trimming. The numbers are just too large."
This is not Raskind's first go-around as a troubleshooter. The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, confronted with difficult circumstances of its own, enlisted him as interim CEO during the first half of last year.
Raskind, who got raves from port board officers, cut a half-dozen staff, dumping more than $760,000 a year in salary and benefits. He also shelved the $600 million relocation of port facilities, a project he says was based on unproven business assumptions.
But the port experience does not necessarily foreshadow how Raskind will approach his new duties. He notes that the port had 24 employees, while the schools claim more than 6,000 working full time. The port dealt with terminal managers hired to move cargo; the schools serve 45,000 children whose futures are at stake.
Part of Raskind's thrust at the port was to repair, not dismantle. He said he sought to mend relations with the terminal operators -- for example, by ramping up marketing to bring in business -- and bolster employees' pride and morale.
At the schools, Raskind said he will preserve the academic "transformation plan" launched by former CEO Eugene Sanders. He also will keep the district's leadership team intact.
As for what will happen at the organization's lower tiers, Raskind was hesitant to say much after a week on the job. He will soon face statutory and practical deadlines for laying off employees and closing schools but said it's too early to tell what will be required.
Cleveland Teachers Union President David Quolke will meet with Raskind for the first time Monday. Later in the week, the two will travel to Denver with school board Chairwoman Denise Link for a two-day conference on labor-management collaboration, paid for by the U.S. Department of Education.
Quolke, who bumped heads with Sanders, is hoping he and Raskind get along after they return home. The district and its unions will at some point begin negotiations for a contract reopener, with the administration expected to ask for a second consecutive year of wage and benefit concessions.
Quolke said teachers' representatives are braced for cuts but will present alternatives. He said he was impressed by a short talk that Raskind gave to district administrators and union leaders when he gathered them together at East Technical High School on Feb. 3.
"He's done nothing to lead me to believe he doesn't want to work with us," Quolke said. "He seems sincere and committed to improving our schools."
Raskind, 54, grew up in suburban Boston, the son of a union garment worker, and attended public schools. He went on to work 30 years for banks in Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Cleveland, joining National City in 2000.
Raskind's ties to the failed bank prompted Councilman Mike Polensek to criticize the decision to place him in charge of the schools. And readers have posted negative comments on cleveland.com.
Polensek toned it down a little Friday, saying he is willing to wait and see whether Jackson and the school board made the right hire.
"I don't have much confidence in Peter Raskind," said Polensek. "That said, he's been appointed, he's their selection. The proof will be in the pudding."
Raskind became National City's CEO in July 2007, when its decline was already under way. He lets the attacks roll past, saying he is at peace with his place in its history.
"None of those people know what I know," he said, declining to go into detail. "I did the absolute best I could. I gave every ounce of energy I had, and a few I didn't have, under challenging circumstances."
Raskind and his wife, Julie, a Shaker Heights native, are committed to staying in the Cleveland area and have served on various community boards. Julie Raskind is president of Voices for Ohio's Children, a nonpartisan policy group.
The time with the port authority infected Raskind with a bug for public service.
Some, including Polensek, are calling for a business mind to run the schools, allowed by the state law that placed the district under mayoral control.
Raskind has said he won't be a candidate to become the schools' permanent CEO. Asked whether he would change his mind, he said he is not sure that the job is exactly what he wants next in life or that he is qualified.
"I would never say never," Raskind said. "But I have a very hard time seeing that from here."