Public Charter School and District Leaders in Cleveland Pledge to Work Together

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/05/cleveland_public_charter_schoo.html

Last week, leaders of district and public charter schools in Cleveland, Ohio agreed to work together to provide opportunities for the city's children. "We're in this together," said Eric Gordon, chief academic officer for the Cleveland public schools. "We either go down together, or we reinforce things that work." Gordon appeared with representatives of three of Cleveland's top-performing public charter schools: Citizens' Academy, the Intergenerational School and the Entrepreneurship Preparatory Academy. (The latter is sponsored by the Cleveland district.) The discussion signaled a new era of cooperation between the district and public charter school leaders. "This is about changing the conversation," said Cathy Whitehouse, co-founder and chief educator at the Intergenerational School, a public charter school that has received the state's top academic rating each of the last four years. "We'd like to teach other interested schools in the community or districts things we found that have worked." Public charter schools in Cleveland has spurred the district to try new strategies. The Cleveland city schools has established single-gender academies and other specialty schools to keep the district competitive in the education marketplace.

Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer
Date: 05/09/2008