Blessed be...

Forest bathing?

The last two Sundays I was in a tent in a state park in Ohio. I spend one full week a year camping solo. The break allows me to take some time to reflect and contemplate while worrying about the basic

necessities...food, water, warmth, shelter and health. It clears my mind of many of the senseless worries and concerns that haunt me during the year. It is a restart in a way and a recommitment to my mission!

Someone sent me an article from the NYT two years ago with this quote in it:  "“Forest bathing,” or immersing yourself in nature, is being embraced by doctors and others as a way to combat stress and improve health."  Who knew?

We can do hard things

https://www.partnershipnyc.org/we-can-do-hard-things/  This is a well written article by our academic  leader in Cleveland, Christian Dallavis.  He is a strong writer and paints a picture of what changing school culture looks like!

Life Changing voucher program...opinion piece from Cleveland.com

I read this piece https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2020/10/a-truly-life-changing-voucher-program-is-within-reach-for-cuyahoga-metropolitan-housing-authority-leila-atassi.html two weeks ago.  It has been haunting me ever since.  Certainly, if I lived in CMHA housing and I had an opportunity to leave with my family to a better place, I would do it in a second.

What haunts me is what this policy could actually mean.  It could mean that this city has given up on certain neighborhoods and basically is relocating people rather than helping the neighborhood.  In line with "We can do hard things" drastically improving grade schools in a neighborhood might be seen as the first step in assisting the people in that neighborhood!  The local businesses in many cases are closed or on their last legs.  How can we help them?  The infrastructure of water (lead), gas (leaks), electricity (poles in disrepair), internet (markedly slower), phone (old lines) and the list goes on, has lacked significant investment for several decades.  The abandonment of neighborhoods in Cleveland was begun many years ago.  My belief is that it all starts to fall apart when the schools can't deliver learning in a loving community.  People begin to move out to seek better schools.  Population diminishes and things begin to suffer.  This can seen powerfully depicted in the documentary, Waiting for Superman.  This documentary is 10 years old.  It refers to our rankings internationally in two areas:  math and science.  In 2010 the United States ranked 25th in Math and 21st in Science.  In 2018, the US ranks 18th in Science and 37th in Math!!  We need to face the brutal facts as a country and as a city where our National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores have not moved significantly over the last 18 years.  The average in Cleveland for Math and Reading is well below proficient and has remained that way for 18 years!  The scores for students of color are even more dismal.  I hope city leaders will begin to work to improve learning for all children.  Recently I was talking to someone who told me of a theory he has:  the solution should have something to do with the problem!

So on one hand, this idea of a housing voucher, is one solution for sure and may be needed as neighborhoods begin to receive what they need.  But my belief is build a strong community of learning and love, known as a school and bring people back to neighborhoods.  This is not an easy thing to do, but, again, we can do hard things!!!

The Times they are a changin'

A New Dawn in Catholic Education

Archbishop Lyke School

 On September 8, two diocesan schools begun instruction under an historic  management agreement with Partnership Schools.  The excitement o

St. Thomas Aquinas School

f the staff and children really was palbable!

 

 I was talking with parents at pickup one day last week.  There was a young couple, first in line in their car (thirty minutes early).  The scene in front of us was three classes outside.  One was playing some sort of kick ball game (still learning gradeschool lingo and games), a second one was dancing in a circle (well spaced), and a third was reciting and whenever possible acting out the nursery rhyme, "One two, buckle my shoe."  I blurted out to the parents, "Behold!  Gradeschool!"  We all had a good laugh.  

Scenes from our first day!

Click here to read a blog with plenty of pictures to give you a sense of what happened on September 8!

A picture is worth...

Brothers after a great day!

Masks up! With their new
Partnership Cleveland T-shirts!

Buildings repainted, social distancing circles

This door welcomes our scholars!

Here we go!

Synopsis of our plan

Below is a one-pager (well, front and back of one page) that gives you an overview of who we are and what we hope to continue to accomplish.  If you wish an digital copy of this document to distribute to your friends, email me at richard.clark@partnershipcle.org.  I am also available to talk with anyone interested in person, on phone or zoom.  My mobile number is 216.409.7018.

You duped me O Lord and I let myself be duped!

 In-person or remote?

That seems to be the question I get most lately.  We live in a VUCA world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) and COVID has done what it does...magnifies our reality.  Please take a moment and read our blog about reopening plans.

What is the answer to our present world's dilemmas?  

1. Flexibility – willingness to try new things.
2. Speed – rapidly grasping new ideas.
3. Experimenting – testing out new ideas.
4. Performance risk taking– taking on challenges.
5. Interpersonal risk taking – asking others for help.
6. Collaborating – leveraging the skills of others from different functions.

Or put more simply, the answer to VUCA is:  Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility.  The problems we are facing do not necessarily have binary answers, they are much more nuanced and need a great tolerance for risk and uncertainty.  Colin Powell's famous leadership primer can be downloaded here.

What a privilege to be duped!

Fr. John Foley, SJ

Fr. John Foley came into my life when I was 24 years old.  By coincidence (maybe) we both enrolled in a graduate counseling class as Loyola University.  He was back in the US for a few months.  He had been a missionary in Peru for 20+ years.  He was going back after this respite.  We hatched a plot to bring 12 students from Loyola Academy to work and live in the Third World for 8 weeks in the summer of 1976.  That's why I spent the bi-centential in Juliaca, Peru!  In any event we became good friends and after I moved to Cleveland, John was called back in the early '90's to lead an effort of the Chicago Province to minister to the Latinos in Chicago.  That, of course, became the great movement of Cristo Rey Schools.  In 2000, John called me to ask if I would accompany him to Peru for a fact finding trip regarding how to build a network of schools.  He had just recently hatched a plot (he's always hatching a plot) with B. J. Cassin to create a Cristo Rey school in every major American city!  In any event, I thought the idea to be fanciful, but I would not pass up a free trip to Peru with my great friend, John Foley! 

Montenegro Chapel

While there I had what I can only characterize as a mystical experience in a small chapel in the Montenegro neighborhood of Lima at a school, Fe y Alegria #37.  There were no words or even any message in that experience...just feelings or fear, awe, love, being loved and somehow being overwhelmed by an experience of God.  My life was forever changed in that moment (it lasted less than a minute).  I came back from Peru hell bent to start a Cristo Rey school in Cleveland.  That was in October of 2000.  I was principal of Saint Ignatius High School and then, just like that, we opened the doors to Saint Martin de Porres High School and had our first Mass of the Holy Spirit on September 3, 2004.  

In 2018, I stepped down at the founding President and was named Founder.  Through a series of conincidences (maybe) I went to New York to meet with the founders of Partnership Schools New York.  In talking with Jill Kafka, the executive director, she asked, "Why are you here, again?"  I told her that we were thinking of starting a grade school in our soon to be empty 1912 school building.  She quite simple said this, "Why, don't you have grade schools in Cleveland?"  Well, of course we did, but my view is that most were not doing a very successful job in the academic realm.  She said, "Well, make them better!"  So just as I was contemplating a slower life, perhaps consulting and helping other schools, the words of Jeremiah came to life again, "I say to myself, I will not mention him, I will speak in his name no more.  But then it becomes like fire buring in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it." (Jer 20.7-9)  I came back from New York City hell bent to bring the Partnership Schools model to Cleveland!  

This isn't about Rich Clark, it is about God using Rich Clark with all his weaknesses.  So as I come up on my twentieth anniversary of that fearful moment in a little chapel in Montenegro, I thank God for giving me a chance to be his instrument!

A tiny whispering sound...

 

Partnership Schools Cleveland team featured on Sounds of Ideas

This past week, Portia Gadson, Enrollment and Recruitment Coordinator; Christian Dallavis, Assistant Superintendent; and Rich Clark, Founding Director of Partnership Schools Cleveland, joined Rick Jackson on WCPN for story about us!   This link will take you to the whole show, our segment runs from 11:10-37.38.  Portia, Christian and I are the staff for Cleveland.  Portia has led the charge on enrollment and our numbers are strong!  Christian has been working closely with our two principals as well as the faculties of both schools.

Mission Forward!

Our mission is to teach, love, and care for our community.  We believe that great schools are guided by faith and values, grounded in rigorous content, supported by quality professional development, and

animated by a clear vision.  The first day of school for Cleveland Partnership Schools is September 8, 30 days from now.  Our plan is to accomplish that mission in the best way possible.  Sans COVID, in person school would never be in question.  Now, in order to accomplish our mission, we may have to creatively find ways to reach our goals.  Presently we are ready for opening school with in school option.  We hope that through good community health practices and citizens working hard to prevent the community spread of the virus, we can safely do that!  As with all schools right now, we are planning for multiple and in some cases simultaneous methods of accomplishing our mission.  I don't pretend however to know the status of the world 30 days from now!!  I think our growth in enrollment (up 10% over last year and still growing) can be explained in part by our willingness to listen and work with families with the understanding that we are committed to make the best of this horrific health crisis

Why ignore the crisis??

When I read of parties in the Ozarks, on Long Island, or AirBNB house parties I shake my head with disbelief.  The spread continues and in some places it even worsens.  I have mentioned a wonderful podcast series called Cautionary Tales before.  This most recent season was 5 shorter shows concerning how the past can shed light on what is going on now in our pandemic.  The one about a nightclub fire in Beverly Hills helped me understand our strange response to this killer virus.  Click here to listen!

Something small...

The reading today from the Hebrew Scripture is one of my favorites.  It is the story of Elijah encountering God.  He was told to leave the cave he was in for shelter because the Lord will be passing by.  First there was a strong and heavy wind that was rending the mountains and crushing rocks...but the Lord was not in the wind.  Then an earthquake...but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  Then there was fire...but the Lord was not in the fire.  After all that, there was a tiny whispering sound and that was the

A tiny whispering sound...

Lord!  A tiny whispering sound after all those big and noisy events...the Lord was in the whisperings.  This is reminiscent of Adam and Eve hearing the rustling sound of footsteps in the garden.  Many stories by Jesus use small things that grow or have big effects:  yeast, salt, and mustard seeds to name a few.  So too am I called to leave the safety of the cave and listen for that tiny whispering sound amidst all the cacophony of our daily world.  Echoed even in today's Gospel the call from Jesus on the water, "take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."

We need your help in spreading the word!

Please consider subscribing to this blog and passing the link on to your friends.  If you wish, you can share other emails with me for people you think might be interested.  In the upcoming weeks we are going to have a digital "Launch Party" and I will give you that information and will really need you to pass that along to all your friends.  That's how small things grow!  I am also available for calls, tours of the school buildings, Zoom or in person (outside, socially distant) meetings.  My email is richard.clark@partnershipcle.org or mobile number is 216.409.7018.

We only have five loaves and two fish

Cleveland featured in Partnership Schools Blog!

The Ozannes!!

As we are busily working on Archbishop Lyke and St. Thomas to renew the physical structures, Ozanne Construction has been a local leader for us.  Here is the link to the story behind the man https://www.partnershipnyc.org/catholic-school-impact-one-cleveland-family/.

  This Thursday Partnership Schools Cleveland will be featured on Sound of Ideas!

I met with Mike McIntyre last week outside at some picnic tables at the Stinchcomb Monument in the Rocky River Reservation.  We talked for about and hour and a half and he said he definitely thought there was a story here!  We are working out the details, but we are tentatively scheduled to be on Sound of Ideas (aired between 9AM-10AM) on this Thursday, August 6, with Rick Jackson.  Please tune in and call in!!  Of course, the show will also be available in the archives.

Two mindsets:  Scarcity and Abundance

Yesterday's Gospel, commonly referred to as the "Feeding of the 5000,"  sends a strong message about how God works.  The disciples tell Jesus to send everybody home, we can't possibly feed them we only have 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish!  Jesus says matter of factly, bring me what you have.  They did, and the rest is the story of God's abundance!  Partnership Schools Cleveland is bringing to God what we have and are beginning ot reap God's abundance. 

The painting begins with twice as much paint as we could afford!  Ozanne Construction takes over the project and showers us with generous donations of time and materials!  We already experienced the abundance of God's help through raising $3.14M dollars in 4 months during a pandemic!  What more do we need to see to believe.  Today's reading has Peter asking Jesus to invite him to walk on the water.  Jesus' reply is quite simple: "Come!"  He does for few steps and then fear takes over and he begins to sink.  The constant message of the Gospel is proclaimed to Peter:  Do not fear!  Just have faith!  I am continually challenged by those words.  I pray that someday I can rid my self of fear and just have faith.  In the meantime, I am constantly reminded of God's abundance and thank God that he has so much patience with me.

What lessons are we learning?

School nurses, well lit and airy school buildings, school lunches are all lessons that were learned in 1918 from the pandemic that rocked the world then.  A recent PBS News Hour segment  looked back at the outcomes of the so-called Spanish Flu pandemic.  What are we learning from the COVID-19 pandemic with regards to schools? 

Children at home in 1918

Certainly the universal need for connectivity is becoming more and more apparent.  The importance of a strong sense of community, the need for families to have support, the increased need for after school programs and nutritional assistance as well as the central need for schools to educate are some of the ideas surfacing now.  We are in the middle of this now, but the challenge is to find solutions for the problems that are being brought to light by the disease.

Cautionary Tale Podcast 

Please subscribe and share!  Please contact me for further info or to talk more:  richard.clark@partnershipcle.org  or 216-409-7018

Learn, Teach, Love

Face the brutal facts!

Beth Blaufuss contributed to this week's Partnership blog.  I first heard of Admiral Stockdale's Paradox when I read Good the Great by Jim Collins.  He developed the theory during his 7 years as a prisoner of war in Viet Nam.  While firmly believing in his ultimate release, unlike many of his fellow prisoners, he knew they were not getting out by Christmas!

Cautionary Tales

One of my favorite podcasts is by Tim Harford entitled Cautionary Tales. Before he begins his second season this year he is doing a series of cautionary tales to help make sense of the world pandemic.  The episode, A Tsunami of Misery examines the reality of taking action

against an urgent danger can also cause longer term ills.  Many choices facing us are not black or white, but rather "double binds" which are situations in which a person is confronted with a choice between two undesirable courses of action.  Whether to have classes in person or online (or hybrid) might be seen as a double bind.  Exposing staff and children to the possibilty of infection and even death v. online remote learning.  Is it really a choice between death and life?  After I heard A Tsunami of Misery I gained a new perspective.  Our mission remains to learn, teach and love.  How we go about accomplishing that mission is going to take incredible faith, agile planning, and willingness to try anything that works!

History made and in the making!

As I get more immersed in our new venture, I have discovered so much history

of  Cleveland that I knew little about.  This link explains the long history of the southeast side of Cleveland's Catholic community and a brief bio of Bishop Lyke (he became Archbishop when he was assigned to Atlanta).

Meanwhile the staffs of both schools met briefly in downtown Cleveland on July 22 to celebrate our history making collaboration.  July 22, 2020 was the 224th birthday of the City of Cleveland and now the birth announcement day of Partnership Schools Cleveland!

Please subscribe to this blog and invite your friends!!!

To learn more or talk more about Partnership Schools Cleveland please contact me at richard.clark@partnershipcle.org.  We are planning digital events, digital and real tours!

Mission Impossible? Not with God!

Whoever has ears ought to hear.  Mt. 13

Today's Gospel is an echo of Isaiah.  The prophet compares rain and snow coming down to do its job:  watering the earth, making it fruitful, giving seeds to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats to God's word which will do its will, achieving the end for which he sent it.

All the illusions in scripture about storms, terrible winds, earthquakes, fire and brimstone are accompanied first by fear and then by God's calming presence with his constant message:  Be Not Afraid!  Well we certainly are in a storm the likes none of us have ever seen before.  Fear is rampant.  Hope is scarce. Giving up is a strong temptation.  Today's Gospel, the Parable of the Sower, is really an allegory.  I do not pretend to know where that rich soil is for the word of God to land, but I believe it exists!

Response to a VUCA World!

Our mission to educate children is unchanged.  The why and what will not change, but it is the how that is unclear right now.  This week's change in the AAP's advice simply shows how fluid all of this is.  Who's to really say where we will be 8 weeks from now?  It is indeed a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguious) World.  Partnership's hallmarks are:  Guided by faith and values; Grounded in rigorous content, Supported by quality professional development, and Animated by a clear vision.

Educators are surely essential workers, yet how will we protect them?  Students are gifts of God's love, how will we care for them?  Whatever those answers are I know that we will need to be nimble and quick in our responses. We will need to turn on a dime and yet keep acheiving the end for which we were sent!

Partnership Schools included in national dialogue

Students at St. Charles Borromeo, a Partnership School in Harlem

As Cleveland begins to launch the first replication of Partnership Schools (originally only in New York City), the benefits of being a member of an established network were seen this past week.  The Cristo Rey Network in its national internal weekly memo mentioned Partnership Schools and its expansion to Cleveland.  The National Catholic Register praised Partnership Schools as an example of a priviate school management organization: 

 Private School Pioneers,” a 2015 report (Andy) Smarick co-wrote for the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, called Private School Management Organizations “among the most interesting and exciting innovations related to the supply of private-school seats — and potentially one of the most important recent developments in urban K-12 education.

We were also featured in a recent Philanthropy Roundtable e-magazine.  The lead paragraph says much:

While more than 50 Catholic schools have been forced to close their doors in the last few months, in part because of the coronavirus, two in Cleveland are poised to prosper under new management. Partnership Schools, a network of seven inner-city NYC schools that are connected to the local Catholic diocese but privately run, is expanding to the Midwest. 

 The recent news this week from New York City Archdiocese is indeed a chilling reminder of the crisis we are in.

We benefit greatly from the thought leadership and several years of practical experience in the arena.  Of course, the involvement of two schools from Cleveland adds to this experience and brings a new perspective to the whole organization.  Right now, we are the much younger sibling and benefit from the wisdom of our elders!  The old adage of "Out of the mouths of babes..." might come into play from time to time.

How we doin'?

To quote the former mayor of New York, Ed Koch, I am happy to say the two newest schools in the Partnership network are really working hard to get ready for this coming school year.  Archbishop Lyke and St. Thomas Aquinas.  Enrollment in the two schools has risen 6% over last year.  The Cleveland Scholarship Program is opening a second window this coming week.  I visited both schools this week and was so happy to see what I saw! 

At Archbishop Lyke I walked in while Jackie was reenrolling a family.  We chatted after and she led me through the history of the school.  An excellent summary is available on the website, just click here.  When I arrived at St. Thomas Aquinas, Rachael Stenger was on a Zoom call with 9 other teachers participating in professional development on the new language arts curriculum (CKLA).  Rachael could not speak highly enough of the currriculum and the accompanying professional develop.  

Meanwhile through the leadership of Dominic Ozanne of Ozanne Contruction, our vigorous "sprucing up campaign" is beginning to take shape.  We have plans for painting, updating doors, offices, entrance ways, bathrooms, boilers, and on and on!  Walkthroughs and bids are happening!  This just might rival a HGTV special!

What can you do?

We need to spread the word!  I am reaching out to you to introduce me to people you think would be exicited about this kind of news!l  Last week I had two meeting in the Rocky River Reservation, outside and we each brought our own coffee! 

Smoky the WWII dog hero

If we meet at Stinchcomb Memorial you can visit the statue honoring Smoky, World War II's smallest hero who: ...crawled through a tiny 70-foot-long culvert on a captured Japanese island, hauling a communication cable, sparing GIs from having to drag it above ground and be exposed to enemy sniper fire."  We met early in the morning to beat the heat and outside, socially distant, seems to be the ticket!  Of course email, calling, Zooming or however you would like to meet would be great.  I can answer your questions and you can talk about your contacts and how you might introduce me!  Email is richard.clark@partnershipcle.org.

The Hard Work Begins!

"So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Mt 10:29

Vision first!

These two quotes by theologian Walter Brueggemann come to mind today.  The Gospel today speaks fundamentally about the value of each human being.  Years ago I was promoting Saint Martin de Porres High School in a church near E. 105th and St. Clair.  Rev. Toby led the service and had me stand (I was already standing out!) and everyone welcomed me.  Then she told the congregation how much God loves each and every one of us.  She called on us to do the same and asked us to turn to our neighbor in the pew and say, "I love you and there is nothing you can do about it!"

Driving around a month ago planting lawn signs I saw the result of the 2008 financial crisis had on many of the neighborhoods of our city.  In fact, one neighborhood had the dubious honor of being called the epicenter of the crisis for the whole world!  I said to myself this is not what God had in mind.  This was created by people and therefore it can be corrected by people.  Brueggemann's quote on compassion is eye-opening.

“Compassion constitutes a radical form of criticism, for it announces that the hurt is to be taken seriously, that the hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition for humanness.”

Unacceptable!  So that brings me to the next quote.  We need to bring God's vision to our world.  So many people have reacted with great surprise when Partnership Schools continued its drive to become part of these two schools in the face of a global pandemic and economic crisis.  One of our donors was very interested in what our plans would be given COVID-19.  My answer was we are trying to be as agile and thoughtful about what to do, but one thing he said was, "Well the kids still have to be educated."  Yes, that is it--the mission has not changed at all.  The methods will be different and ever-changing, which has actually always been true; perhaps amplified by our present situation for sure.  Someone envisioned derivative mortgages, so we certainly can envision the celebration and growth of our neighborhoods through a loving educational community. 

“The prophet engages in futuring fantasy. The prophet does not ask if the vision can be implemented, for questions of implementation are of no consequence until the vision can be imagined. The imagination must come before the implementation. Our culture is competent to implement almost anything and to imagine almost nothing. The same royal consciousness that makes it possible to implement anything and everything is the one that shrinks imagination because imagination is a danger. Thus every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing futures alternative to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one.”
― Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination

So, the vision has been imagined!  We are keeping the vision of a strong, vibrant Catholic school in a neighborhood that embraces it.  The hard work is ahead of us.  So, please know that we may be calling people to help in many ways.  Also, know that "I love you and there is nothing you can do about it!"

Just show me the finish line...

Recently I read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. He explains the way food comes to our table, or fast food restaurant, by detailing the history of four meals he eats. The section in the book on small organic farming introduces us to a farmer, Joel Salatin, who owns and operates Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia. Mr. Salatin is quite a character.



Among other things, he raises chickens and cows on his farm. He talks about the massive government beauracracy surrounding the slaughtering of animals, which makes it almost impossible for small farmers to legally produce meat in large quanties. Mr. Salatin certainly has his baises against government regulations, but in one particular excerpt, he stated a challenge to these government regulators.



In order to assure food safety (I read this book before the peanut butter scare), the USDA creates a series of regulations all aimed at food safety. However, they leave one out. They do not actually require the measurement of bacteria (harmful or other) once the chicken is packaged. The government's theory is if everything along the line is safe, clean and hygenic then the final product will be. There are approximately 40,000 cases of salmonella in the United State each year. Mr. Salatin feels that the only real test of the safety of chicken meat is to take a sample as it is being packaged. Now here comes the line, "Just show me the finish line, I will figure out how to get there!"



Recently the governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland, in his State of the State address talked about education reforms. It included quite an impressive list: all day kindergartens, change in teacher licensing, change in tenure rules and laws, replace Ohio Graduation Test with ACT scores, revamp the funding system, dictate the number students in a kindergarten class (no more than 15), and lengthening the school day and year. I am sure there were others.



Buried in there was something that Farmer Salatin might agree with: make a certain ACT score the new "finish line." The rest are, in effect, telling us how to get there.



While all this was making news in Cleveland, Bill Gates produced his first annual letter for his foundation. It is available at http://www.gatesfoundation.org/annual-letter/Pages/2009-bill-gates-annual-letter.aspx.



When he begins talking about education he almost always puts it in this context: one million high school students a year drop out; and nationally, 71% of students graduate (58% of Latino students, 55% African American students). The Gates Foundation has given over $2 billion to education.



It began by helping cities create small schools and funding the replication of effective schools. The Cristo Rey Network, of which Saint Martin de Porres High School is a member, is the only private school network funded with this money. He states in his annual letter: "We will continue to invest in replicating the school models that worked the best. Almost all of these schools are charter schools. Many states have limits on charter schools, including giving them less funding than other schools. Educa­tional innovation and overall improvement will go a lot faster if the charter school limits and funding rules are changed."



(Here is an excerpt from the Cincinnati Enquirer, February 5, 2009, "Strickland's office confirmed Wednesday that the two-year budget proposal would reduce state funding for charter schools from $617 million in the current school year to $497.4 million in the next school year. Then it would increase to $533.7 million the following school year.


Over the same period, overall state spending on education, in general, is supposed to increase by $925 million.")



Gates went on to talk about a major shift in funding for education by his foundation. He has admitted that most of the earlier experimentation with small schools was, overall, not making enough of an impact. He calls for a new finish line: 80% of high school students will graduate in four years and will be fully ready to attend college by 2025. What the Foundation has also found is: "One of the key things these schools (the successful ones being replicated by earlier funding) have done is help their teachers be more effective in the classroom. It is amazing how big a difference a great teacher makes versus an ineffective one. Research shows that there is only half as much variation in student achievement between schools as there is among classrooms in the same school. If you want your child to get the best education possible, it is actually more important to get him assigned to a great teacher than to a great school." Hence the Foundation is going to be spending much more money and focus on teacher development.



Superintendant Eugene Sanders, shortly after the Governor's address, laid out his plan as reported in the Plain Dealer:



"Cleveland schools chief Eugene Sanders outlined his plan for moving the district forward:
• Turn around low-performing schools or close them.
• Reward teachers for performance, not seniority.
• Get rid of ineffective teachers.
• Build on innovative programs such as single-gender academies and schools specializing in science, technology, engineering and math.
• Encourage parents and community to get involved in the schools."



Where is the "finish line?" Using terms like "low-performing," "ineffective," and "performance," allude to one, but certainly not as transparent as Mr. Gates': 80% of high school students will graduate in four years and will be fully ready to attend college by 2025.



We need to build upon risk taking and innovation. Personally, it bothers me that the goal is only 80%. I know that it is a realistic goal based on the national average today of 71%, yet somehow that is sad. In any event our leaders need to be clear on the finish line and then support those educational endeavors that are moving towards it or even crossing it.



We need clarity and simplicity in our "finish line." I am reminded of this famous story:



The Talmud in tractate Shabbos 31a relates the following well-known story of Hillel:


"On another occasion it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai and said to him, "Make me a proselyte, on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot." Thereupon he chased him away with the builder's cubit that was in his hand. When he came before Hillel, (he also asked Hillel to teach him the entire Torah while standing on one foot) Hillel replied, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah while the rest is commentary; go and learn it."



Here is a simple goal (recitable on one foot): "80% of Cleveland high school aged students will graduate from an accredited school fully ready to attend college...by 20XX."



Next...Hill 537

Blowing on the embers...

Five years ago, we formed a curriculum committee to write a new curriculum for our school. Headed by Karen Nestor, we did just that. Now, five years later, it is time to blow on the embers and get the fire raging again! Yesterday, I spoke to our teachers...I am not sure how it was received, but I was too excited about the prospects of recreating even a more effective curriculum and reigniting the school! We shall see. I will post some powerpoints used in the presentation.