7 AM Ansel and Superior

Though She Be But Little, She Is Fierce

Cue the rainbow!  7 AM on September 8, Cleveland's innovative approach to Catholic schools in the city was launched under a rainbow!!  Here is a story mostly in pictures of our first day throughout our 9 school network in Cleveland and New York.

The solution should have something to do with the problem!

On Friday I was talking to someone who was interested in what we are doing at Partnership Schools Cleveland.  We were talking about the education landscape in Cleveland and the discouraging results.  Nearly one in four of Cleveland residents 25 or older do not have a high school degree, 15% have a college degree and 5% have post graduate degrees.  66% of adult population of the city of Cleveland are functionally illiterate.  In 2003 when I was gathering information like this, the number of adults with a college degree was 13%.  We have spent, over those past 17 years, upwards of $12 BILLION on our school system.

Then he told me about a theory he has:  The solution should have something to do with the problem!  His view was the problem was not centered as much on money as it was on management and organization to achieve the goal of student learning!

Recent history has seen some experimentation in this organizational model.  Charter schools are a good example.  A recent podcast has found some interesting and encouraging data about this model.  Obviously as with all new models, some iterations fail (remember Blackberries and PDA's?).  To expect perfection on the first draft is a bit presumptious!

Catholic schools too are struggling.  In 2015, FADICA (Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities)produced a report, Breathing New Life into Catholic Schools:An Exploration of Governance Models.  The report explores various models that may help the Church reinvent the management and organization of Catholic schools.  Cristo Rey schools, along with Partnership Schools in Cleveland and New York, are shining examples of what can happen!

My sister, my daughter, my sister-in-law, my nephew-in-law (is there such a term) are public school teachers.  Between the four of them, there is so much love and passion for education I can't begin to tell you. So if the case is that teachers are committed, hard working, passionate why do these systems consistently fail on the whole?  The problem is really one of how that passion is harnessed and directed on such a large scale.  Therefore the solution is one of vision and management.