Mayor Jackson asked, and I responded
Several people over the last week and a half have emailed me or called me to let me know that Mayor Jackson is looking for a new Cleveland Municipal School District Board Member. Those of you who know me well are quite aware that the plight of education in our fair city, the state, and in our country is one of my gravest concerns. I do not believe that we are preparing our children for the world of work in the new Knowledge Economy. Without exception, they all said "this is your chance. Is it? Only time will tell.
I do know this. If we continue to only talk, study and pore over statistics, nothing will change. We need to strategically begin doing things in a focused, intentional way. Only then can we turn our educational system in a direction that will prepare us all for the future. I firmly believe that education is the key that moves us from poverty to prosperity. We need to treat "our" children like the asset they are. Some refer to them as "human capital"; I prefer to call them our "investment in the future".
How do we stop drop-out rates of 60%? How do we create the value in education that will make kids want to stay in school? How do we make public education affordable and sustainable in a time when housing values are decreasing and large expanses of land do not pay taxes? How do we retain quality teachers and recruit more of the same? How do we create a safe haven for learning? How do we give our children the soft skills necessary to survive in the workplace and at the same time prepare them to pass proficiency tests. Hard questions not only asked in our urban school districts but in suburban and rural districts as well.
Together, as a community we can answer these questions and more but we need to treat education as an investment not only for the parents of children, but for each and every one of us who is a neighbor, an employer, a business leader, an elected official and anyone else who believes that we have a duty to future generations.
So I could write this post and say I am done, but should I be done? Is it enough to talk and write or is it necessary to do? The answer became clear to me as I walked to the post office box to mail this application to 601 Lakeside Avenue. I needed to take this chance.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:35 am
[…] Gloria Ferris » Blog Archive » Mayor Jackson asked, and I responded “How do we stop drop-out rates of 60%? How do we create the value in education that will make kids want to stay in school? How do we make public education affordable and sustainable in a time when housing values are decreasing and large expanses of land d (tags: education) […]
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Gloria this is fabulous news! Now if you could clone yourself and mail two more, that would be great
The Board needs your insight that’s for sure. Thank you for doing this for all of us.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:05 am
i hope you didn’t recommend reinstating and empowering the bond accountability commission with more oversight authority in terms of how the money is spent (wasted). you’ll remember when the board members were reappointed last time, it was mr. moss who suggested this and he was summarily dismissed from consideration for reappointment. why re-appoint the guy who demonstrates a desire to watch where the money is being spent? fortunately, we did retain that legendary educator and epitome of academic excellence, shereeda abdul-haqq (the two qs at the end of her name signify quality and quantity). abdul-hagg would seem to be more fitting in my opinion.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:19 am
oh, one other piece of advice. maybe you shouldn’t mention that mr. sanders is by far the highest paid schools CEO in the state. He also has four assistants, each of whom make more than the next highest paid schools CEO in the state, Mr. Blackwell in Cincinnati. You may not want to inquire about why Nick Jackson (the mayor’s brother who has no degree) makes about 140k/yr and nobody knows what he does. you may elect not to question why they have refurbished the bathrooms three times in the last few months in schools that they know are scheduled to be torn down. and last, but not least, i would recommend you not inquire why it is that 24 different “administrators” in the schools hierarchy have the word “chief” as part of their job title (as in too many chiefs and not enough indians). other than that, good luck. you’ll need it. i hate to be negative, but the truth is ugly sometimes.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Joe–
Love the sarcasm; just a slight tilt more, and it could be satire, perhaps even high satire. What you’re describing sounds like a third-world country.
Do you remember that for a while, during the Mike White years, Nick used to refer to himself as “Dr. Jackson”? Is there a resume extant anywhere?