CLEVELAND - There will be no Academic Distress Commission in Cleveland after the State Superintendent dropped off a waiver letter this afternoon to Mayor Frank Jackson and CEO Eric Gordon.
“The Cleveland plan represents a coordinated effort to improve student academic performance in the district,” said Dr. Richard A. Ross, State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District, or CMSD, had failed certain state requirements over four consecutive years which prompted talk of a distress commission. With the passage of House Bill 525, Ross said the waiver would last as long as the district was showing progress.
“We believe the waiver insures that our local plan, The Cleveland Plan, gets a chance to work,” said Gordon. “We believe that the four year promise to us by the voters ensures that we will be accountable to the people of Cleveland, the state, and most importantly to the kids,” he continued.