Northeast Ohio hasn't seen this many immigrants arriving into the region since 1948, the organization Global Cleveland told Cleveland City Council earlier this summer.
The organization's CEO Joe Cimperman estimates that 5,000 people arrived in Cleveland last year, including refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine, as well as asylum seekers from central and South America.
Ohio is one of the top 10 states for resettling refugees. And a group of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio became part of the national dialogue this week as Ohio Senator and Republican Vice President candidate JD Vance spread a false claim that immigrants were harming pets. It's something that former President Donald Trump repeated in the presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday night. Springfield police have flat-out denied any of this happening.
But, the political discourse around immigrants and immigration in recent days, especially focused on Ohio, contradicts a lot of work being done here in Northeast Ohio to make the region a welcoming place to live for newcomers.
On Thursday's "Sound of Ideas," we're going to talk about the experience of refugees or immigrants when they arrive here. Where do they turn for the basics, such as housing and work? And how are local organizations trying to make the process of resettlement easier?
Global Cleveland's annual "Welcoming Week" kicks off tomorrow, which we'll talk more about, as well the new addition this year of a Welcome Center in Cuyahoga County.
Later in this hour, students who have been making their way back into the classroom this fall are walking into a new way to read.
This is the first year where Ohio schools are using the "science of reading" curriculum in the classroom.
That method of teaching reading is based on decades of research and focuses on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension in its curriculum.
But not all is well with the rollout of this new model.
Some teachers in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Ohio's third-largest public school system, are expressing their concerns with transitioning to the science of reading. We'll hear more from our education reporter, Conor Morris.
Guests:
-Ivan Prodanyk, Recent Ukrainian Immigrant & Paralegal, US Committee on Refugees/Immigrants
-Joe Cimperman, President & CEO, Global Cleveland
-Tina Coleman, Welcome Center Supervisor, Cuyahoga County
-Jasmin Santana, Ward 14 Councilmember, City of Cleveland
-Conor Morris, Education Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
