12/17/2010 7:00:00 PMPhillip Morris says Cleveland must not become the state's education plantation

 

John Kuntz / Plain Dealer file photo: Gov.-elect John Kasich said he will push for a state takeover of the district if evidence doesn't quickly emerge that proves that the district is improving its academic performance.

December 17, 2010, 5:00 AM    

By Phillip Morris, The Plain Dealer

Children enrolled as first-graders in Cleveland public schools in 1998 -- the year Cleveland's mayor was given control of the school district -- are scheduled to graduate this spring.

The operative word here is "scheduled," because in Cleveland only slightly more than half of those who enroll in a Cleveland public school bother sticking around to get a diploma.

In 2005 Cleveland had the second lowest graduation rate among America's 50 largest urban districts. And why should you care? Simple: That dismal graduation rate continues to produce punishing social and economic consequences for the region.

We (parents who fail to parent, schools that fail to educate and communities that fail to demand better) fail our children, and they in turn fail us.

Still, I can't help but wonder, what has really happened to the class of 2011, the first class of children we sought to save by abolishing an elected school board.

Mayoral control certainly has not been a panacea, but how well has it worked?

Are more children on their way to college? Or are similar numbers dropping out and getting the first bitter taste of the financial disasters their lives will soon become?

Are more young Clevelanders better prepared to succeed as a result of having been led by Mayor's Michael R. White, Jane L. Campbell and now Frank G. Jackson? Or are they simply the next emerging class of social parasites

Are these young adults any better positioned for future community leadership as a result of the visions of former superintendents Barbara Byrd Bennett and now Eugene Sanders, who will resign in February? Or are they simply statistics, the victims of an education flim flam?

I suppose it depends on who you listen too. Sanders says he has the district moving in the right direction. There is some statistical evidence to support that claim. Cleveland continues to produce many bright and capable students.

But Sanders, a talented leader, will soon become a Cleveland schools dropout himself. His abrupt decision to resign sadly ensures that he will leave behind no Cleveland legacy to speak of.

So where do we go from here?

How do we ensure that the 5- and 6-year-old children who entered the district this fall -- the children who will make up the class of 2023 -- are afforded the opportunity to receive a competitive education?

Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of time.

Gov.-elect John Kasich said something Wednesday that should alarm educators, community leaders, and anyone who is a believer in self-determination.

Kasich said he will push for a state takeover of the district if evidence doesn't quickly emerge that proves that the district is improving its academic performance. The last time the state took control of the district it was for financial, not academic, reasons.

Nonetheless, that stark warning should serve as another wakeup call to Cleveland. Either we fix our failing schools now or we watch the district go back into the state's hands -- the untenable position we found ourselves in 1995.

His warning is useful because it's been a long time since a governor has spoken so forcefully about Cleveland's schools situation. It seems to suggest that Kasich will not idly watch while Cleveland continues to dream of education success, but fail to deliver.

Perhaps this man from Columbus really cares.

But the last thing this town needs is for the state to run its schools. This must not become an education plantation. We face home grown problems that demand home grown solutions.

But the writing is on the wall. Mayor Frank Jackson has been put on notice:

Fix your schools, save your city's children or forfeit your mayoral control of the schools.

Kasich didn't say it. But he might as well have. The waste of human capital in Cleveland is immoral. The class of 2023 must be saved starting right now.