Mayor Justin Bibb Says 'Cleveland's Kids Can't Wait'
Conor Morris, Ideastream
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb last week released the results of a “listening tour” on education in the city, calling it the beginning of an ambitious plan to solve long-time, entrenched issues facing the city's students, educators and families.
Through information gathered through research and interviews conducted with 250 “stakeholders” across roughly 30 listening sessions with families, students and community members and leaders, the Bibb administration made the case in the report that the city needs to rapidly accelerate its pace of progress for students. The report, headlined "Cleveland's Kid's Can't Wait," argues that that rapid progress is needed in a city where one in two children lives in poverty.
The main takeaways for what the city needs, as listed in the report, are: To provide all students the safe and welcoming school and community environment they need to thrive; to develop a plan to ensure all students have access to a “best-in-class” school facility; to strengthen learning so that all students are academically prepared for college or a career; to build on what’s working; and to elevate parent voices to drive progress.