- Hello, good morning, everybody.

It is so good to see all of you.

I wanna thank you so much for being here.

I am grateful to 100% of you for being here today for so many more ways than you could possibly know.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends, as you're taking your seats and finding your finding your meal, I wonder if you could join me in thanking a few people.

Our sponsors, our presenting sponsors today, KeyBank and PNC, we're so deeply appreciative of their sponsorship of our forum today.

Please join me in thanking them.

(audience applauding) I also wanna thank our additional sponsors at "The Plain Dealer" and cleveland.com, at The Good Community Foundation and the Nordson Corporation Foundation.

Thank you all very much.

(audience applauding) Additionally, thanks to all of the organizations who sponsored tables for schools who are here with us today.

We deeply appreciate that level of engagement.

And I also wanna take a moment to recognize our partners here at the Renaissance Hotel, the staff here at Encore, and Michaelangelo's Photography and Ideastream Public Media, the Cleveland Metro School District staff, and the student musicians who greeted you and the student volunteers who helped to greet you as well and also my colleagues here at The City Club.

All of these people helped make the event today happen.

Please join me in thanking them all.

(audience applauding) You know, this is, as we all know, Eric Gordon's last State of the Schools address, and we'd like to share a little bit of a look at years past right now, thank you.

- [Presenter] Welcome to The City Club.

- So today, The City Club is happy to bring to its podium.

- Ladies and gentlemen.

- I present, on behalf of The City Club of Cleveland.

- Eric Gordon.

- Eric S. Gordon.

- Eric Gordon.

- Eric Gordon, Eric Gordon, chief executive officer.

- CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

- CEO Eric Gordon.

(audience applauding) (calm music) - As I began preparing for my 11th State of the Schools address, I had to pause to consider the moment itself.

A friend and colleague of mine told me, "Eric, you will either be our best superintendent or our last."

I knew then and affirm today that we had a moral obligation not to retreat but to venture forward.

We simply cannot continue to wait for help to come from Columbus or from Washington DC or from anywhere else.

It's clear that the solutions to the academic and financial challenges we face in Cleveland, or for that matter, in Detroit, in Washington, in Chicago, in Los Angeles, or in any other city, they must come from within our own school communities.

I also need to thank 6,875 people.

These are the CMSD educators who work in our classrooms and our schools, on our buses and in our offices, in our cafeterias and on our playgrounds, people who serve in countless ways to support our children every single day.

Most of our educators are at work right now with our scholars, but a few are here today, and I ask that we take a moment to acknowledge each of them on behalf of all 6,875 of us for the hard work every single day.

(audience applauding) - What are the district plans for our children who are homeless?

What progress are in place to help these families?

- So unfortunately, it is a part of our reality that at any given time, about 5% of our students live in homelessness, and over the course of a year, 10% of our students have experienced homelessness.

That's a fact of our community.

I mentioned this notion of Say Yes to Education.

This is one of those things that Say Yes to Education will help us do for everyone in the city is make sure those services are available exactly when a student and a family needs it.

If we've learned anything from the past 18 months, I hope it is that the core infrastructure of our communities must be designed for the many and not for the few.

We all know there will come a day when COVID-19 is conquered, a day when we can go back to normal, but should we?

What if this isn't just a pause?

What if this is instead a reset?

What if this is our chance to closely examine the inequities that exist in our communities and think differently about how to address them?

Thank you again for joining me today and allowing me to share the bright state of our Cleveland public schools.

(audience applauding) (calm music) - Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

And now, I'd like to invite Cleveland's mayor, the Honorable Justin Bibb, to join us on stage for a moment.

(audience applauding) - Good afternoon.

How's everybody doing today?

- Doing great!

- Great!

- Good, good, good.

Today is an amazing day in our city but also a hard one.

I've had the chance to know Eric for over a decade when I was a young staffer working on education policy for our new county government.

I've never met a man who loves Cleveland's children and families more than Eric Gordon.

(audience applauding) And you know, my mom at a young age instilled in me this important quote.

She says, "Justin, well done is better than well said."

I'm gonna say this again so you hear me in the back.

"Well done is better than well said."

(audience applauding) I think Eric Gordon is a true embodiment of that quote.

So on behalf of the great city of Cleveland, Ohio, I wanna honor Eric Gordon for his leadership with a special proclamation.

Come on up, Eric.

(audience applauding) (audience applauding) - Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Eric.

Finally, I just wanna thank all of you for being a part of this.

I suspect that there's one or two of you here, probably more than that, who have been here for every State of the Schools that Eric has has delivered, and I thank you for being a part of that.

It's this kind of engagement, ongoing engagement, willingness to listen, willingness to ask tough questions, Eric's willingness to answer those tough questions that makes this city special and makes this practice of civic engagement special, and you all are a part of that, and many of you have been a part of it for years and years, and we are so grateful for your support and your engagement.

I'm not gonna go on because if I start thinking more about Eric departing, I'm gonna get emotional, so thank you all so much for being a part of this.

If there's anybody at your table you have not introduced yourself to, please take care of that.

We're gonna get started in a little less than 10 minutes.

Thank you so much.

- [Announcer] Production and distribution of City Club forums on Ideastream Public Media are made possible by PNC and the United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland Incorporated.

(upbeat music) (audience chattering) (bell clanging) - Hello, and welcome to The City, man, my voice got loud, didn't it?

Hello, and welcome to The City Club of Cleveland where we are devoted to conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive.

It's Wednesday, September 21st, and I'm Kevin Clayton, senior vice president and head of social impact and equity for the Rock Entertainment Group, which is the holding company for your Cleveland Cavaliers.

Can the Cavs get some love?

(audience applauding) And importantly, I'm a member of The City Club's board of directors.

We are here for the annual State of Schools address presented by KeyBank with additional support from the Good Community Foundation, cleveland.com, and "The Plain Dealer."

Thank you as well to our partners at Ideastream Public Media for their partnership in producing today's forum, to Nordson for their continued support in The City Club's Education Innovation series.

Since 2011, the State of Schools has been delivered by Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon, and after his announcement last week that he is stepping down at the end of the school year, this will be his last.

Eric, as a community partner with the Cavs, we appreciate your support, and I was saddened to hear that you were stepping down.

Our first forum with Mr. Gordon was held in our auditorium at 850 Euclid to a full house of just over 200, and this year, we welcome Mr. Gordon to a nearly sold-out ballroom here at the Renaissance Hotel filled with teachers, students, advocates, businesses, and friends that have all come together with a sole purpose, and that is to ensure all Cleveland scholars can achieve their dreams.

Thank you, Mr. Gordon, for your time with us here at The City Club and offering an opportunity for all Cleveland residents and students to hear directly from you and of course ask those tough questions.

Over the last 11 years, our school districts has some significant, have made some significant gains.

2011, you'll recall this was before the Cleveland Transformation plan.

It was before Say Yes Cleveland and the wraparound services and college scholarships that program brought to the schools.

In 2011, the four-year graduation rate was 56%.

Prior to COVID, it had climbed to over 80%.

Mr. Gordon also oversaw the passage of multiple tax levies to fund the Cleveland and launch the summer learning experiences, provided summer school camp, and extended learning to district families.

The newly released state report cards released earlier this month revealed opportunities ahead.

While achievement scores have returned to pre-pandemic levels, other areas are still reeling from pandemic disruptions that began two years ago.

So what is next for CMSD and our community's commitment to build a more fair, just, and quality system of education for every child in Cleveland?

If you have questions for Mr. Gordon, you can text them anytime to 330-541-5794.

That's 330-541-5794.

You can also tweet them, @TheCityClub.

City Club staff will try to work them into the second half of the program.

And now, members, friends of The City Club, students, community members, please join me in welcoming one last time Eric Gordon, CEO of Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

(audience applauding) - You just gave my whole speech.

(audience cheering and applauding) You've just heard the whole speech, and now we've had the end, we can go home.

(audience applauding) Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining me here in the Renaissance ballroom in Cleveland and also on our live stream for our annual State of the Schools address.

You did just hear the whole speech, so we can probably go home, but if not, I've got a full hour ahead of you including great questions from you and most importantly from my kids.

Before I begin my remarks today, I wanna applaud the sponsors of this event, which make it possible every year for us to share the progress and achievement of Cleveland's public schools with both a live and a broadcast audience.

These generous donors also enable students, families, and educators to attend at sponsored tables throughout the room.

So if you would, please join me in thanking our sponsors for making today possible.

(audience applauding) It's been customary in the last 12 years for me to take time before my formal remarks to recognize the educators, families, partners, stakeholders, and supporters whose dedication to and support of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District plays such a significant role in the state of our schools each year.

First, I've been privileged to work closely with a board of education that has distinguished itself locally and nationally for its dedicated, consistent leadership of the CMSD.

The devoted members of the Cleveland Board of Education have earned their reputation for delivering consistently strong, impactful leadership and support for Cleveland's public schools.

And with us today are board chair Anne Bingham, vice chair Robert Heard, and board members Sarah Elaqad, Denise Link, Dr. Lisa Thomas, and Leah Hudnall.

You deserve our gratitude, our respect, and our applause.

So would you please stand so that we can recognize the board of education.

(audience applauding) At the head table today are distinguished civic and community leaders and friends who make our daily work and this annual event possible, including Cleveland mayor Justin Bibb, and Mayor Bibb, thank you for that amazing proclamation.

Also with him, chief of education Holly Trifiro and chief of youth and family services Sonya Pryor-Jones, two very dear close friends.

One of my most important mentors and the long-serving executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, Dr. Michael Casserly is with us today and my wife of 28 years and my best friend, Dawn, thank you for being here.

(audience applauding) Throughout the room are many other vital community partners who as I speak today will recognize the vision for Cleveland schools that you helped to inspire, the contributions toward taking action on that vision, and the progress that we've collectively made together this year and over the last decade at one of the most pivotal times in CMSD's history.

These dignified and dedicated representatives of community agencies across the city have helped to shape and continue to support our kids and our families.

They include the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the Cleveland Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, the Cleveland Council of Administrators and Supervisors, the Cleveland Teachers Union, Breakthrough Public Schools, the United Way of Greater Cleveland, College Now Greater Cleveland, our partners at PRE4CLE, the Cleveland Transformation Alliance, the Higher Education Compact of Greater Cleveland, Say Yes Cleveland, the Greater Cleveland College Career Consortium, and so many more.

Please stand, all of those representatives, so that we can show our gratitude for all of you as well.

(audience applauding) For all of you standing, our work and our strong partnerships of course center around the most important people in this room and those listening across the city, and that's our CMSD student scholars, their parents and caregivers, and our incredible CMSD educators in every area of service to our school community.

In particular, it's the tireless devotion of our educators to our students and families that is central to the success we've seen over the last decade, and it is their presence at this annual event that matters most to me.

Would our CMSD students, families, and educators present today, including several of our student and parent ambassadors who are with us, please stand and be recognized.

(audience applauding) Get those questions ready, students.

And I'm also wearing a peace sticker from Tremont School made by Tremont students because today is National Peace Day.

So thank you for my sticker.

(audience cheering and applauding) Finally, I wanna thank the people who work collaboratively behind the scenes to bring this State of the Schools address to life.

I'd like to acknowledge Dan Moulthrop and his staff from The City Club of Cleveland who in partnership with Ideastream Public Media make it possible for me to present and to live stream the State of the Schools address.

I'd also like to acknowledge Dr. Roseann Chic Canfora, my colleague and co-conspirator, as we write the State of the Schools address for the last 12 years.

CMSD's TV station manager Benn Draher, graphic designer Brenda Haehn, and other members of the CMSD communications and engagement teams.

Thank you all for sharing in this moment as I deliver my 12th and final State of the Schools address as CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

(audience applauding) I knew somebody would applaud when I said I was leaving.

So I know it was a surprise to many of you when I announced last week that this school year would be my final year as CEO, and that decision was not an easy one for me, but it's an important decision made at the right time and for the right reasons.

And so today I'm going to use my brief time with you to report not only on our progress and challenges over the last school year, but also to reflect on the last decade of work and progress that brought us to this important and pivotal moment as a district.

It's that work and the progress we've made together that has positioned the district for this critical moment when we transition to new leadership next year from one hand to another to ensure our continued progress and success.

Good leadership is often characterized as either a marathon or a sprint.

Some say the best leaders are those who are consistent for a continual period of time, while others say it's best to go all out in order to move quickly to achieve your goals.

In my more than 11 years as CMSD's CEO, I've attempted to do both, leading with what I've described as a persistent urgency to quickly achieve significant goals while simultaneously working to embed those wins into a culture that can nurture and sustain them over time.

But truly effective leadership is neither a sprint nor a marathon.

Former US president Barack Obama supported this notion when at the end of his presidency he characterized effective leadership as similar to a relay race.

"Our noble work in public service," he said, "is more like a team sport than an individual one."

As he left the White House at the end of his presidency, President Obama said simply, "There is the sense sometimes, in any position of leadership, that you by yourself do certain things, and then it's over.

I always viewed it as taking the baton from a whole range of people who have come before."

It's easy to see this moment in that light.

At its simplest, a relay race is a team sport where individual runners each run a leg of the race before passing a baton to the next person to continue the competition.

Each of the runners must perform at their absolute maximum during their leg of the race.

And in a relay race, the race is won not by those individual runners but by a combination of the runners who came before them and those who come after in the entire race.

But winning a relay race requires far more than simply running.

It requires that the entire relay team can see the finish line and that each member is not only prepared for their run but also for when and how the baton is passed.

In an actual relay race, runners prepare strategically and deliberately not just for the end goal but also for something called the exchange zone, the critical places in the race where the baton can successfully and optimally be passed.

Three factors are key to successfully passing the baton when you reach the exchange zone.

They are an intentional focus on looking ahead not behind, the precise timing of the handoff, and the successful passing of the baton at the peak speed of both runners.

And I really wanna stress that.

The handoff occurs when both runners, the one carrying the baton and the one taking it, are running at their maximum speed.

More important, if the runners aren't aligned for a successful handoff in the exchange zone or if they drop the baton, the team can lose ground or even risk being disqualified.

So how does that apply to the state of the schools?

Quite simply, CMSD has reached our exchange zone.

The conditions of the district are such that as we look intentionally ahead, it is clear that now is precisely the right time to carefully plan for a successful handoff to the next leader of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

It's time to pass the baton.

So what are those unique conditions that have presented themselves in this rare short window of time?

To answer that, let's consider another factor that's key a to success in a relay race, called the split.

While a relay race is a team sport, the contributions of each individual runner also matter greatly.

When the baton is officially passed, the measurement of an individual runner's time is referred to as the split.

It's a calculation that essentially involves splitting each individual runner's time out of the total race.

So to better understand the state of the schools, we need to measure the split for my leg of the race.

When I was passed the baton in 2011, CMSD was the lowest-performing district in the state of Ohio.

We were facing financial bankruptcy, and we'd lost all public trust.

Like the runners before me, I had to hit the ground running at optimal speed, and with only a one-year contract as CEO, I didn't have a second to lose.

When the baton was passed in 2011, many doubted what, if anything, might be attainable for Cleveland's public schools.

But by 2012, we had secured bipartisan support for the Cleveland Plan to improve the academic performance of our schools.

We passed the first school levy in 16 years, placing the district back on strong financial footing.

And over the course of the next 10 years, we have continually strengthened the public's trust in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

Sooner than many thought we could, we were changing public perception of CMSD from one lagging behind to one that was not only finding our stride but racing forward.

None of that would've been possible without the extraordinary commitment of the partners, funders, and school and community leaders that brought the Cleveland Plan to its finish line, and scouts took notice.

The "National Review" called the Cleveland Plan "an impressive, encouraging break from a long trend of conflict and stalemate."

"The Wall Street Journal" called our transformation plan "a rare example of collaboration and a departure from the bitter animosity over school funding and treatment of teachers that divided so many US cities."

"The Washington Post" hailed our mayor, board, and district leaders "for not being afraid of clashing over what's best for children and for being an exception to the rule" in American schools that had long, too long failed our nation's children.

Right here at home, the Cleveland "Plain Dealer" editorial board said that "with so much at stake, the Cleveland Plan was a plan worth fighting for," and they were right.

Under that plan and over the course of my work as CEO in the decade that followed, the Cleveland Board of Education held me and my team accountable for three critical goals, first, to increase the academic performance of the district and its schools, next, to ensure that CMSD was in strong organizational and financial health, and finally, to restore public trust in our schools.

I and we have spent the last 11 years solidifying the district's academic mission, raising academic achievement, performance, improving the health of the organization, ensuring its financial health, building a strong infrastructure, modernizing facilities, transportation, and technology, and hiring the best and most qualified people in our classrooms, schools, and departments, and with all of that in place, improving the public's trust in the district and in our expanding portfolio of schools.

When I stepped into the role of CEO in 2011, survey data showed the public had lost faith in CMSD.

We hadn't passed a tax issue, as I said, in over 16 years, and public polling showed that there was little voter support for the district.

In fact, in March of 2012, during my first year, only 20% of registered voters rated the quality of education as good or excellent, while over 38% rated the quality as poor.

Many in this room remember those years as CMSD faced the looming risk of a state takeover, now known as Academic Distress Commissions, similar to those assigned to Youngstown, Lorain, and East Cleveland.

We, too, lagged far behind when compared with districts statewide, but in Cleveland, we didn't give up, and we refused to accept that fate.

Against the odds, we averted a state takeover with the unparalleled support of a strong and committed coalition of Cleveland leaders that are now formally represented by the membership of the Cleveland Transformation Alliance.

Working together, we moved forward with our own bold plan to improve education, and with the crafting and implementation of Cleveland's Plan for Transforming Schools, or the Cleveland Plan, we made a promise to Ohio's elected officials and to the greater Cleveland community that we would hold ourselves accountable for academic improvement.

Over the past 11 years, CMSD's momentum was and continues today to be fueled by growing public trust as evidenced by the passing of three school levies and a bond issue and by survey and focus group results showing a dramatic increase in public satisfaction with the direction CMSD is heading.

In my State of the Schools address 10 years ago, I told the audience at that time, "The state of our schools in the days ahead depends on the investment each and every one of us is willing to make now."

That investment, made with a promise of continued improvement before returning for renewed support, paid off.

In November 2012, in support of that promise, voters passed Issue 107, a 15-mil tax increase with 57% of the vote.

That win was not because of public trust but more because of hope.

The Cleveland Plan was a promise to the community that if given a chance, we would improve performance and earn that trust.

The community simply gave us a chance to make good on that promise, and we did.

Two years later, with 63% of the vote, Clevelanders passed Issue 4, a 200-million bond issue allowing us to continue modernizing schools.

And two years after that, in 2016, voters renewed the 15-mil levy with Issue 108 by a whopping 68% of the vote.

And that momentum continues to build.

Since then, the most significant and most recent demonstration of public trust was the passage of Issue 68, a five-mil tax increase passed by more than 61% of the voters despite our need to seek support during the darkest part of the global pandemic shutdown and despite well-funded opposition by a small group of commercial property owners.

In looking forward to the exchange zone, strong public trust is critical for the successful leadership transition.

It matters both to attract the best candidates and to ensure confidence in the selection of a new leader.

It matters also to position that new leader to continue our momentum when they begin their leg of the race.

Those key indicators of strong public trust in measuring my split in the race are a few examples of why now is the right time to hand off the baton.

Let's look at another set of factors that are key to getting the timing right for our handoff, indicators of the organizational health.

In the spring of 2011, just before my appointment, the district had laid off hundreds of employees.

We'd cut art, music, and physical education out of the K-8 curriculum, and we'd shortened the K student day just to survive financially.

The district was quickly running out of money to continue our building modernization program.

We had a severely aging fleet of buses and other vehicles, and we had an aging technology infrastructure as well.

With the momentum we were gaining with increased public trust, though, voters passed Issue 4 in 2014 and made it possible for us to complete the construction of renovation of 20 more school facilities, including the state-of-the-art Cleveland School of the Arts, Max Hayes career technical high school, Garrett Morgan campus, and John F. Kennedy campus, to name just a few.

Renovations of Joseph Gallagher PreK-8 School have begun.

Preparations for a new Clark and a new Marion Seltzer school are also well underway, and a new Lincoln West High School is scheduled to follow these latest new schools as well.

At the same time, we continued our careful work in right-sizing our school footprint while maintaining Cleveland's value of smaller neighborhood-based schools.

CMSD has also modernized our bus fleet, including the board's most recent purchase of 110 additional new buses, safety, and trades vehicles.

And starting this year, those school buses are now WiFi enabled so that our students can be connected to the internet as they ride to and from their schools.

And speaking of WiFi, CMSD has transitioned over the last few years to a full one-to-one technology solution.

Today, every student at every grade level has their own age-appropriate iPad, tablet, Chromebook, or laptop.

And we're installing Clevertouch interactive touch screens in every classroom in the district as we upgrade the district's entire internet infrastructure.

(audience applauding) Of vital importance, we put an end to the years when our students could only access the internet at school.

CMSD has actively assisted nearly 6,000 Cleveland households in getting permanently connected to the internet through our partnerships with Charter Spectrum and DigitalC.

(audience applauding) And starting last school year, through a partnership with PCs for People, every CMSD graduate now receives a laptop at graduation to take with them to college or into the world of work.

(audience applauding) At the same time, we've made significant improvements in our school safety infrastructure, including upgrades, repairs, and improvements to our security cameras in our schools and securing a $1.6 million grant to improve and enhance public address systems, door locks, and other school safety features district-wide, another sign of organizational health.

Yet another sign is the increasingly strong labor relationship CMSD has built with its bargaining members.

While many districts are muddling through arduous labor management tensions, as seen recently in districts across the region and the state, I am really proud to report that CMSD has successfully bargained three-year contracts through June 2024 with all eight of our labor unions.

(audience applauding) With the days of looming financial bankruptcy far behind us, the best sign of CMSD's vastly improved organizational health is our five-year forecast.

Last passed by the board in May of 2022, our current financial forecast shows that the CMSD is forecasted to be financially healthy through at least 2026 and probably longer.

So what does that mean?

It means the district won't need to consider a new levy for at least four more years.

While this is possible in part, (audience applauding) we can celebrate that, this is possible in part due to the significant federal investments in pandemic relief, but it is also due to successful advocacy at the state level for a more fair school funding formula and because of our own prudent financial management.

That same sound financial management has also positioned the district for a potential no-new-tax bond issue, or property maintenance levy at some point in the future to protect the community's significant investment in dozens of new or renovated buildings over the last 25 years.

Each of these major strides adds up, but how?

Today, instead of cutting art, music, and physical education, we are able through innovative contract language with the Cleveland Teachers Union to ensure that every PreK-8 school not only has a full-time art, music, and physical education teacher, but is also able to expand the K-8 day and provide even more art, music, and phys ed opportunities.

(audience applauding) That same innovative contract now ensures that every CMSD school houses a full-time health professional and a full-time community college and career coordinator to better support our students' wellness, interests, and needs.

(audience applauding) And while news reports everywhere warn of a crippling teacher, bus driver, and other employee shortage in districts across the nation, and as we're adding these much-needed additional positions, I am proud to share that CMSD is currently staffed at 98.5% of full staffing in this crisis.

(audience applauding) So as you can see, CMSD is in a strong financial, operational, and personnel health, and that vital health ensures the district's continued progress through periods of transition as we enter into the exchange zone this school year.

Finally, and most importantly, the district's clear and focused academic mission is stronger than ever.

Over the course of the last seven years, CMSD has tracked continuous progress on kindergarten readiness, K-3 reading improvement, improvement on reading and math scores, and record increases in graduation rates while decreasing the need for remediation when those graduates entered college.

(audience applauding) With the addition of Say Yes scholarships in 2019, our college-going rates began increasing as well.

And like districts across the country, the pandemic did severely impact those measures, but what the pandemic didn't do was dismantle the infrastructure we've built that enabled those gains.

PRE4CLE, our community's public-private compact, now ensures that all three- and four-year-olds have access to high-quality preschool education.

This- (audience applauding) Dan, if this runs long, it's their fault, not mine.

(audience laughs) All right, just making sure.

PRE4CLE is a vital initiative, a game-changing head start for our kids, and it's stronger than ever.

PRE4CLE has never once lost its stride, and today is remarkably well prepared to rebound for the impacts of the pandemic.

The district itself has a bold vision for learning, and more importantly, a carefully constructed strategic plan to both recover from the pandemic and to deepen learning and teaching in core academic content.

Moreover, that plan includes a focus on the transferrable skills that students need to succeed beyond high school, especially in today's high-skilled labor economy.

And surely one of the milestone achievements that has contributed to building CMSD's ever-increasing momentum is our city-wide effort to bring Say Yes to Education to Cleveland.

Say Yes now guarantees a full tuition scholarship to every CMSD student who lives in the district and attends a CMSD high school for a full four years.

That includes any public college or university in Ohio.

(audience applauding) That includes any public college or university in Ohio, including Pell-eligible trade schools, and it includes tuition scholarships to over 100 private universities across the country.

What's more, due to the generous support of the administration of Cuyahoga County and the support of Cuyahoga County Council, Say Yes has now completed its four-year rollout of family support specialists to provide students and family supports in every school in the district.

(audience applauding) With last year's soft launch of PACE, the district's Planning and Career Exploration curriculum, our newest public-private partnership with the Greater Cleveland Career Consortium has now enabled a far more tightly coordinated effort to ensure that every CMSD graduate is not only prepared for college but also prepared to enter the high-skilled workforce and able to secure employment with family-sustaining wages and benefits.

And with the release of Ohio's new report cards last Thursday, we now have data affirming the remarkable progress we've made in recovering from the pandemic and a baseline for measuring continued progress in the years ahead.

While CMSD's new state report card showed that Cleveland and other districts struggled significantly during the pandemic, I'm pleased to report that the data also show our scores are improving.

In fact, in a number of areas on this year's report card, CMSD has already returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Among- (audience applauding) Among the most encouraging news is that for the first time, CMSD is the highest-rated urban school district in the state of Ohio.

(audience cheering and applauding) Remember we started dead last, so I'm gonna say that again, the highest-rated urban school district in the state of Ohio.

(audience cheering and applauding) And now the goal is to take the rest of 'em out.

So what does that report card tell us?

First, it tells us what we already knew.

The pandemic hit us hard.

Community surveys, our community surveys show clearly that the community expected this, but the polls show also that our families remain confident that CMSD can and will get our kids and district back on an upward trend, and we have.

Outpacing many districts, CMSD earned a four-star rating for closing achievement gaps and another four-star rating for value added, meaning we exceeded the state's expectations both for student growth and for closing learning gaps.

(audience applauding) In fact, CMSD was the only large urban district in Ohio to earn four stars on the gap-closing measure, closing gaps for our minority students against their white peers statewide.

And while we're still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, CMSD's performance index, a measure of test scores, has already returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The new state report card, along with the upcoming release of the Cleveland Transformation Alliance's report on the performance of the Cleveland Plan over the past decade and the recently published Education Forward report together establishes a new post-pandemic baseline for current and future performance.

Moreover, our recently refreshed Cleveland Plan outlines a clear roadmap for the next leg of the relay and will provide a blueprint for further success as a new CEO comes aboard.

So you see, in several important measures of our academic mission, our organizational health, and our improved and sustained public trust, CMSD is healthy, strong, and strategically well positioned in a way we haven't been for decades.

Moreover, the district is uniquely prepared to accelerate the momentum we've built together and to face new challenges in the short few years ahead.

We've entered the exchange zone.

I know that I could've stayed on longer with CMSD, and I'm confident that if I had done so, I would've continued to garner the strong support I enjoy today from so many of you in this room and across the city.

But this is not a sprint.

It is not a marathon.

It's a relay race.

One of the most difficult but important moves a leader makes is to know when to hand off the baton and to do so in a way that best ensures the organization's future success.

Often leaders are tempted to let up only when they are tired and almost finished.

But to do this well, the one passing the baton must be able to keep running full steam until the baton is passed.

And it's also important to note that my decision to hand off the baton is part of a larger leadership exchange happening across Cleveland.

In addition to the election of Mayor Bibb and his leadership team at city hall, Cleveland has seen new leadership at the helm of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the George Gund Foundation, Breakthrough Public Schools, the United Way of Greater Cleveland, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College, and not long ago, even the leadership of the Cleveland Teachers Union, and there will surely be more leadership successions to come as our city hands off our part of the run to others waiting to take the baton.

George Bernard Shaw once said, "Life is no brief candle to me.

It is a sort of splendid torch that I've got a hold of for a moment and that I want to make burn as brightly as possible before I hand it on to future generations."

I wasn't the first superintendent CEO of Cleveland's public schools, and I was never going to be the last.

CMSD's full race is not yet run.

But as I've measured the split and as I've looked carefully forward, the conditions are precisely right to hand off the baton and to ensure that the next CEO takes forward the progress and the momentum we have made and built together.

Regardless of what you do or where you sit in this room, the work we have done together is legacy work, particularly as it sets up the district for future progress and supports the ability to impact future generations of Cleveland's children.

Our greatest achievements in life then are not in what we left behind, but in what we send forward.

To everyone who shared this journey with me over the last 11 years, thank you for the part you played in the foundation we've laid for that future.

I'm confident that our legacy will be protected because we as a community are intentionally looking ahead and are doing so strategically during this pivotal moment of time.

I'm also resolute in my pledge that together we will continue to run at our fastest pace this school year while the board of education and Mayor Bibb take the time they need to identify the next runner ready to build up speed and to be well positioned to take the baton in June.

I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have served as CMSD's 36th superintendent and CEO and to be one of the longest-serving superintendents in our district's rich history.

My job and my privilege now is to continue leading the district in this my final year and to do so at the same pace and with the same determination to succeed that you've come to expect of me.

And when we reach the moment of exchange this spring, I will with more gratitude than I'll ever be able to express be fully prepared to pass that baton and to leave a new pair of running shoes fully laced up for the next CEO.

Thank you for joining me this afternoon for my 12th and final State of the Schools address.

Thank you for your faith.

(audience applauding) Thank You.

(audience cheering and applauding) (audience cheering and applauding) - I'm Dan Moulthrop with The City Club again.

And Eric, I just wanna say that when you made the announcement, I had noted that you were an extraordinary example of selfless leadership, and I just wanna underscore that today.

Thank you so much.

On behalf of The City Club and The City Club board of directors and all of our members, thank you for your decade-plus of selfless leadership.

(audience applauding) We are about ready for the Q&A, so if you're a student and you have a question, please line up over there behind my colleague Alyssa.

And if you are not a student and you have a question, please line up over there behind my colleague Noelle.

If you would like to tweet a question, please tweet it @TheCityClub, and we'll work it into the program, and/or you can text your question to 330-541-5794.

The number again is 330-541-5794, and we will work it into the program.

And it looks like we have a few students lining up, Eric.

- Thank you.

- Hi!

- [Eric] Hi, how are you?

- Well, my name is Chardon Black, and I'm a high school student currently attending the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine at the John Hay campus, and my question was, with several investments into technology and the general infrastructure in CMSD such as the Clevertouch smart boards and new school buildings, I and several of my peers were wondering if there are any plans from the district to renovate and maintain older buildings such as the John Hay campus, which has several leaks and temperature issues that we all believe could pose a danger to our health and education.

- Thank you, it's a great question.

So one of the things I mentioned in the speech was that the board just recently took action to do something called refinancing or refunding their debt.

And the reason that I asked the board to do that is it sets the board up for at some time in the future, and I wanna be clear, we are not on the ballot, so don't misunderstand, but sometime in the future that the board can go back to the community and ask for what's called a no-new-tax increase to get more dollars for the maintenance of buildings like yours that was renovated now more than 20 years ago and is gonna continue to need improvements.

So the board is actually set up to be able to do that sometime in the near-term future, and it's one of the reasons I think this exchange opportunity is so important.

Great question, thank you.

(audience applauding) - Good afternoon.

First of all, congratulations, Eric.

I was so proud to be able to brag about Cleveland's progress at this week's State Board of Education meeting.

So I just wanna say congratulations to you and everybody who works in the district.

When I was growing up and my mom was leaving, she would always leave a list of things that she wanted my brother and I to accomplish and have done by the time she got back home.

(audience laughs) (laughs) So my question to you is, are there a couple of things that you would like to see happen when the next CEO comes on after you've left?

- Yeah, thank you, Meryl, thank you.

This is also state board member Meryl Johnson for the State Education Board, thank you.

(audience cheering and applauding) Part of this decision is to ensure that the district remains directionally correct.

Often a leadership change comes with throwing out everything a community's invested in and bringing in a whole brand-new strategy.

So part of this is about being directionally correct.

I think a new CEO needs to be continually laser-focused on recovery from the pandemic, particularly focused on our early literacy and K-3 literacy improvement and rebounding on that graduation rate while continuing to understand that our educators through progress and gap closing know how to do this work and trusting and supporting them in getting that done.

That's number one.

Number two is PACE is fairly new, and it is a three- to four-year full-scale implementation, like every other big effort we've done.

And so it's really important that the new CEO really makes sure that PACE is fully anchored so that every student has a 6-12 experience that makes sure that they are ready for the high-skill world of work that comes out there.

And then the third is understanding the culture of this community and the collaboration and the way this community works and embracing the opportunity that this move is designed to make, to step in with the wind at that person's back and to work collaboratively with all the people in this room and across the city that has gotten these results.

They didn't happen because of me or even just the district.

This is Cleveland's Plan for Transforming Schools, and the new person has to understand and value that.

(audience applauding) Thank you.

- Hi, my name's Amani, I'm a student ambassador, and I go to John Hay Architecture and Design.

And I just wanted to ask, after you leave, will any programs be taken away?

- That's a great question, thank you.

So my hope is no.

(laughs) I obviously don't control that.

The next person does.

But again, I'm making this decision now so that, you know, one, we need to attract the very best people in the country to come here and do this work, and you do that when it's an attractive job.

And this is an attractive job.

We're a great city.

We've got great kids doing amazing things in our schools all across the district.

We have an infrastructure of programming that we've worked really hard to put in place and should keep.

And so I can't promise you that everything will stay the same.

I can promise you that my decision to transition is so that I best guarantee your future success as you finish high school and the success of all your K-8 student neighbors that are following you in the years ahead.

So, but you know, you're a student ambassador, and your, you know, student advisory is gonna continue to play an important role.

Make sure that your next CEO knows the programs you value and why they're important.

Make your case, and you know, that's how you'll carry the programming and the things you care about forward.

So I'm leaving it in your hands, okay?

All right.

(audience applauding) - Hello, my name is Chanelle Walker.

I'm the founder and CEO of Professional Inspiration, and we inspire teachers to be well and thrive.

I wanna commend you for your 98.5%, you know, staff being in place.

That's awesome because across the country we see that's a issue.

So as you continue through this relay and exchanging power, how will you keep morale and burnout prevention as a key part of keeping this rise in Cleveland going?

- Thank you, there's a few things really important there.

One is that we have really focused for students and adults on relationships, rituals, and routines, and really paying attention.

We've always said we want our scholars and our educators to bring their whole self to work, and so we're really spending a lot of time on adult social-emotional learning and resources for our adults in the same way we're doing for our kids.

A second part of it is actually the timing of my decision to announce now in September gives me the rest of the year, 'cause I'm not dead yet, folks.

We're not having a year of saying goodbye.

It gives me a year to take care of my people and to help us get through the emotion of change that comes, you know, either because you're happy or you're sad, but the emotion of change that comes so that we are settled and ready to embrace our next leader.

And then the third is a leadership move for our next CEO.

We spend an awful lot of time in the district on the culture of working in CMSD, small things like making sure every employee gets a birthday card and a work anniversary card.

I'll tell you a funny story.

Last Wednesday, the CEO of the CMSD sent me a work anniversary card.

It was my 16th anniversary.

(audience laughs) But those small gestures matter to make people feel valued in an organization.

And that's just one example of lots of small ways that we try to signal to our employee educators their value and their importance.

And so there are moves that we're making now, and there are moves that I can share with the next CEO to hopefully encourage that continued support of adult wellness and adult commitment that has allowed us to keep our teachers during this national crisis and this national resignation.

So thank you for that question, yes ma'am.

- Hi, my name is Sapphire Walker.

I'm a student ambassador, and I attend Cleveland School of the Arts.

My question is, what are your other hobbies outside of this job, and will it be hard for you to overcome the fact that you're leaving?

- And will it be hard for me to what?

- Overcome the fact that you're leaving.

- Oh, (laughs) so I tell my wife, I used to be quite interesting, really.

I used to have hobbies, and then I became the CEO, and they kind of all went away.

So I'm, you know, I would be lying if I told you, I would be lying if I tried to tell you that I'm not sad.

I love this work.

This is my life's work.

I love being in your schools and seeing what you're doing, you know, and being with all of you.

So personally, this is tough.

I haven't fully embraced it yet because, again, I'm not dead yet.

I'm still here for a year, and I'm not willing to have a year of goodbyes, in part because I'm not ready to say goodbye.

So it's gonna be tough.

But I am actually looking forward to, you know, before I became the CEO, I used to read nonfiction every night before I fell asleep, and literally in the last 11 years, and my wife can tell you it's the truth, when my head hits the pillow, I am out.

I can't read page one, not one line.

I just stopped having a book by my bed.

I'm looking forward to that.

My district cell phone has not been turned off for 15 years.

It's plugged in next to my bed.

The only time it's off is if the battery died, which I try not to let happen, or if I'm on an airplane.

I'm actually looking forward to not having the phone next to my bed.

Like, there's some perks to, you know?

So, you know, come find me next year when I'm not standing here but I'm somewhere else, and I bet I will have hobbies again, and I'd be happy to let you know what they are.

(laughs) (audience laughs) Thank you for the question.

(audience applauding) - Hi, Eric.

My name is Gesta Miller.

I'm a parent ambassador for the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine.

And given that this program has been so vital for the district, is there a plan in place to continue its growth and development during the transition?

- Thank you so much, and thanks for being a parent ambassador.

Our parent ambassadors are parents who work inside of our schools to help other parents.

(audience applauding) So proud of them.

So I think this is a really important question.

I am here through June 30th, and I'm gonna continue to lead the district through June 30th.

So my leadership did not stop last Monday when I made an announcement.

We're gonna keep investing in programs.

We're gonna keep looking at how to improve programs.

We're gonna keep digging into that early literacy and that graduation rate.

We're gonna keep working on PACE.

Only when there's a next leader will that leader decide what changes.

So you have my 100% commitment that the Eric Gordon you knew for the last 11 or 15 years, depending on which window you knew, is the same Eric Gordon you're gonna see in the next 10 years, and that includes my commitment to identifying the best ways to continue to improve and expand programming for our kids and families across the district.

So thank you, and again, thank you for being a parent ambassador, too.

That's something I'm really proud of.

(audience applauding) - Hi, my name's Rhiannon Ford.

I go to Tremont Montessori, and I'm an eighth grader.

And I was wondering, are you confident that the Say Yes program will keep going on as the next CEO comes up to take your place?

And I was wondering how we can advocate for ourselves.

- Great, thank you so much, first, you can applaud that, that's great questions.

(audience applauding) First, yes, I am very confident, and the reason I'm confident is the way the model was built.

Many people in this room from the business and private community raised over $95 million that's sitting in the bank right now to make sure you have a scholarship when you graduate four years from now.

(audience applauding) But here's how it works.

If a next CEO comes in and says, "I don't like that Say Yes stuff, I'm gonna get rid of those wraparound supports, I'm gonna get rid of all that," those same people that raised $95 million are gonna come sit in that person's office and say, "You are about to turn off scholarships for kids for the next 21 years.

Do you wanna rethink this?"

And Say Yes will be here.

And if you need any, if you need any evidence of it, look at Buffalo.

Buffalo has had six different superintendents since they implemented Say Yes.

They've had some superintendents that came in saying, "Oh, we're getting rid of Say Yes."

Say Yes is still there.

They are not.

So it's here.

(audience applauding) I wanna answer the other part of your question about how you can advocate for yourself.

One of the things I'm most proud of over my tenure is the increasing student advocacy and agency that all of you bring.

And I see it in letters written to me, emails written to me.

I even, we now have students who have written testimony and submitted it in Columbus against some of the bills that we think hurt our community the most.

But as you move into high school, we have in law the only school district in the country where our students have the legal right and responsibility to advise the CEO.

It's in state law.

Use it.

Make sure that you tell your CEO what you need.

Thank you so much for your question.

(audience applauding) All the adults got intimidated by you.

Did you see that?

That's our secret.

(laughs) - Hi, my name is Naria, oh, hi, my name is Naria Ramon, and I am a senior and class president at John Marshall High School of Information Technology.

(audience cheering and applauding) And I am also the captain on the robotics team Astral Circuits.

(audience cheering and applauding) So I understand that we have created awesome programs like robotics and eSports, and my question to you would be, what other computer science programs do you wish to expand and create in different schools?

- Yeah, this is a great question.

So first of all, I have to brag about you and your classmates for a moment.

So there is state data now around students who have taken advanced placement computer science classes, and the number and percentage of those students that are women and that are people of color, CMSD blows it out of the water.

(audience cheering and applauding) Blows it out of the water.

Ms. Cohen is here, she'll have the right figures, but it's like four or five times the state average, huge, huge numbers.

So what do I wanna see keep happening?

I want more of these fab labs all across the district so that, you know, the robotics and the laser-cutting and all of that stuff continues, that innovation lab space.

I want the quantum computing work to keep expanding.

We are the only high, you are the only high school students in the world that had a high school quantum computing camp this summer at Cleveland State University, in the world.

I want that for more of you, right?

(audience applauding) And I wanna challenge the field, because we are working toward an inclusive economy, but the robotics and computer science fields right now are still largely white men.

And so I wanna challenge you not to just to get the credentials, but to take them out and to diversify and create an inclusive community for robotics and computer science and all of those things as you graduate next year, go on to school, and into the workforce.

I want you to lead the way, congratulations.

(audience applauding) Oh, that's it?

They're giving me the hook.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for being here with me today.

Have a great rest of your day, thank you.

(audience applauding) - [Dan] You did it!

Thank you.

- [Eric] Thank you.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering and applauding) - You can ring that bell now.

- All right, Eric's getting embarrassed.

Thank you all so much for joining us for our annual State of the Schools address, Eric Gordon, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

Our sponsors today are KeyBank and PNC with additional support from the Good Community Foundation and cleveland.com and "The Plain Dealer."

Also, thanks to all of the partners who stepped up to support student attendance today.

Our forum's also part of our Education Innovation series, which is presented in partnership with Nordson Corporation, and many, many thanks to our partners and friends at Ideastream Public Media for their production support.

That brings us to the end of our forum.

Thank you so much, Eric Gordon, for 12 amazing States of the Schools, and thank you, members and friends of The City Club.

I'm Dan Moulthrop.

Our forum is now adjourned.

(audience applauding) (bell clangs) - [Announcer] For information on upcoming speakers or for podcasts of The City Club, go to cityclub.org.

(bright music) - [Announcer] Production and distribution of City Club forums on Ideastream Public Media are made possible by PNC and the United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland Incorporated.