Since Dr. Eugene Sanders took the helm of the Cleveland Public Schools seven months ago, his most immediate goal has been to raise the district's academic ranking from Academic Watch, the second to last category, to the middle ranking of Continuous Improvement. It would be a first for the district since the Ohio Department of Education began scoring the state's schools in 1998.
Eugene Sanders: We believe it can be done, we have faith that it can be done, because we are capable of doing it. And once we achieve Continuous Improvement it is not the Panacea - it becomes the foundation on which we build for the future.
Sanders says that future is one where students wear uniforms and go to schools based on their needs or interests. He wants to open four gender-only schools, a science and technology school, an academy for parents struggling to control their disruptive children and district-sponsored charter schools. Sanders is also calling on the establishment of three boarding schools within the city - two will be for exceptionally bright kids and one would be geared towards boys who are at risk of dropping out of high school.
Sanders says it will take until 2010 to implement these steps, but he says they're necessary if the city is to raise above its rust belt roots and flourish in the 21st century economy.
Eugene Sanders: The days of leaving school and going to work for Ford of General Motors are over, so we must present our students with the kinds of opportunities to instruct them and work with them on jobs that haven't yet even been created.
The packed auditorium of educators, civic leaders and community members he spoke to gave Sanders numerous standing ovations. After the speech, even Cleveland Federation of Teachers President Joanne DeMarco said her union supports the path Sanders is forging. She is concerned, however, that the teachers she represents will be asked to fill new specialized positions without being given the proper training.
Joanne DeMarco: If you want people to function differently, you have to provide them the tools and resources to do that.
That extra training would certainly add to the expense of the ambitious plan. To his audience, Sanders gave virtually no details on how such a plan would be paid for. When pressed afterward, he offered little more.
Eugene Sanders: Obviously we don't have a comprehensive price tag because we are going to go year-by-year in terms of the cost of doing things. Keep in mind, the opportunities we want to happen will require extra revenue that are external to the district.
David Abbott, executive director of the Gund Foundation, says local grant makers are also very supportive of the direction Sanders wants to take the district. But he estimates it will take millions of dollars from charitable organizations to make its dreams a reality.
David Abbott: Some of that we hope wouldn't necessarily just be from us. But we think if the school district established a visions and a plan and starts to implement a directions that's radically different from what we have done in the past, then I'd say there's a very high probability of the district being able to attract money from outside of Cleveland as well.
Currently, the district is facing a $6 million deficit and shrinking enrollment. Sanders says he's confident his plan will keep more students and the revenue they represent in the district rather than loosing them to charter schools and make the Cleveland District a place were parents want their children to be educated. Lisa Ann Pinkerton, 90.3.