June 28, 2011
Mayor Frank Jackson: Courageous Democratic Leadership
By Miesha Headen, DFER Ohio State Director
Congratulations to Democratic Mayor Frank Jackson of Cleveland and Eric Gordon, the new CEO of Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), for their courageous stance in support of the educational achievement of students!
As reported in the Plain Dealer, Mayor Jackson wrote a letter to Republican Governor John Kasich, Republican Senate President Tom Niehaus, and Republican Speaker of the House William Batchelder urging them to support these important educational reforms:
• Annual evaluations of teachers based at least 50% on student performance and growth measures;• The end of reduction in force legislation that compels districts to lay-off teachers based solely on seniority;• The establishment of merit pay for teachers; and,• The fostering of collaboration between district and charter schools by having the enrollment numbers and test scores of district-sponsored charter schools count toward the overall district on the state report card.
The Republican controlled House of Representatives wrote these reforms into the Ohio bi-annual budget, known as House Bill 153. However, the Republican controlled Senate stripped out the amendments.
It is rumored that the Republican Senators fear reprisals from the unions and do not want to doubly anger them after their vote on Senate Bill 5.
Mayor Jackson is advocating for the reforms to be re-inserted during the joint caucuses.
Mayor Jackson has reasons to see the sensibility of the reforms. He has witnessed the educational success that comes from accountability and inspired leadership.
• Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) has a number of "innovation" schools rated Effective or Excellent, notably MC2STEM, in which the principal may select the teaching staff and the teachers are evaluated annually.• CMSD took the progressive step of sponsoring (or authorizing) Breakthrough Charters Schools, a collaborative of three high-performing charter schools. Both Citizens' Academy and The Intergenerational School, which are members of Breakthrough and rated Excellent, have demonstrated for years that poor, minority students can achieve academic success despite the naysayers. The district will lease four buildings to Breakthrough in the upcoming school year.• Although CMSD closed some failing schools in 2010, there are still some educational wastelands in Cleveland. For example, in Cleveland's Ward 1 serving approximately 20,000 people, there are eight district schools. Seven of the eight schools are rated Academic Watch or Academic Emergency. Something needs to be done.
Ronn Richard of the Cleveland Foundation and Joe Roman of the Greater Cleveland Partnership wrote letters to the editor in the Plain Dealer supporting Mayor Jackson. Democrats for Education Reform is working along with other prominent education reform groups to see these essential changes in Ohio law for the benefit of children.
Miesha Headen graduated from Columbia University and holds a Masters of Management from Ursuline College. She has served on the Richmond Heights Charter Review Committee and the Richmond Heights Local School District Leadership Team. She is a Councilwoman for the City of Richmond Heights. She joined the DFER team as Ohio State Director in 2010. Read more about Miesha here.