Making history is just one of her legacies. In 1969, Lillian Burke became the first African-American woman to be appointed as a judge in Ohio. Knowing the financial burden that comes with law school, she established a scholarship fund at the Cleveland Foundation that would enable students to follow their passion, not agonize over mountains of debt. Elissa Hopson, assistant prosecuting attorney with Cuyahoga County, owes her current position to this scholarship. “I would have graduated with an exorbitant student loan, which would have made accepting a position in the public sector impossible,” she said. “Now I feel that I am having a positive impact on the county.”
We respect knowledge
It’s a direct connection. Our community won’t thrive unless we educate our children well and prepare them to succeed in today’s highly competitive global workforce. Since the foundation’s earliest days, we have maintained a strong dedication to improving public education. Today, our focus is on innovative, quality public schools that give parents a choice and children a chance. We are striving for 21st century curricula that prepare students for college and careers in an ever-changing world. We also are striving to ensure the presence of highly motivated, quality teachers in every classroom and public policy that places education at the top of our leaders’ to-do list. The goal: a high-performing, seamless public education system that engages the city’s youth from their earliest lessons through post-secondary education. Read more about our efforts to enable our school children to achieve a bright intellectual and economic future at www.ClevelandFoundation.org/Education
challenge to the community Statistics show that Ohio has fallen significantly behind in key education measures. The foundation believes that transforming our education system is critical to the future of our children, our community, and our economy. And we are challenging the entire community to imagine better ways of educating our children and preparing our workforce.
imaginative schools Our Portfolio of Excellent Schools strategy aims to produce, attract, and keep talent in our city by creating imaginative public schools. Since 2006, the Cleveland Foundation has pledged up to $10 million over five years toward the creation of new, excellent Cleveland public schools.
We have collaborated with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and the George Gund Foundation to open eight new schools since 2007, including four single-gender academies for boys and girls; an all-boys high school; two urban high schools focused on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); and the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine on the John Hay campus. All of these schools operate under a special memorandum of understanding with the teachers’ union that allows for greater flexibility. These schools are able to hire their staff, set their own calendars, and experiment with different instructional approaches.
With support from the foundation and other partners, the district opened its two newest high schools: Design Lab Early College at Jane Addams Business Careers High School and MC2STEM High School, jointly housed at the Great Lakes Science Center and General Electric’s Nela Park. These exciting schools have instituted a range of innovative practices. Starting their second year, both have significant waiting lists.
In addition to public schools, we also have supported promising independent and charter schools serving low-income students, such as Entrepreneurship Preparatory School (E Prep), Citizens’ Academy, Intergenerational School, and St. Martin de Porres.
stirring results Indicators show these schools already are outperforming their peer schools. The Cleveland School of Science and Medicine received the top rating of excellent on Ohio’s report card for three years in a row. On this year’s Ohio Graduation Test, students there performed as well as students in much wealthier suburbs.
The two K-8 academies for boys and two K-8 academies for girls also fared well; the most recent state report card rated two excellent and one effective, with the fourth cited for continuous improvement, an incredible accomplishment in just two years.
informing public policy In collaboration with foundations across the state, our staff is pursuing critical policy changes to align Ohio standards, curricula, and tests to match the demands of college and work, improve teacher quality, spur innovation, and best prepare students to compete in a global economy. The vast majority of the recommendations in our education public policy report were adopted by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland in his statewide education reform plan.