5/12/2014

 

Mayor Frank Jackson administered the oath of office to two new Cleveland Board of Education members Monday, praising their "commitment to the mission."

 

Ericka L. Abrams and Anne E. Bingham were sworn in at City Hall. Bingham will serve a term that expires June 30, 2017, while Abrams completes a term that expires June 30, 2015.

 

Bingham, who lives in Cleveland's West Park neighborhood, is an assistant vice president and personal banker at Fifth Third Bank. Abrams, who lives in the Union-Miles neighborhood, is a public health practitioner and founder and chief executive officer of Restore the Village, which promotes positive parenting, nutrition and breastfeeding behaviors.

 

"What I like most about both of them is their commitment to the mission," the mayor said. "They're a perfect fit for what we're trying to accomplish."

 

Abrams is a 1994 graduate of East High School. Her daughter, Laila, will start kindergarten this year at CMSD's Campus International School.

 

"I am a product of the District," Abrams said in an interview. "I understand the complexity of the issues that a city like Cleveland faces in trying to provide quality educational opportunities amid budget constraints."

 

Bingham said she was impressed by The Cleveland Plan, a sweeping blueprint for reform that was approved by the state legislature and written into law.

 

"It sounds like a business plan," she said. "It's not just hopes and dreams."

 

Bingham and Abrams were among eight finalists chosen from 22 applicants for the positions. A nominating committee recommended candidates to the mayor for interviews.

 

Cleveland's mayor appoints the nine members of the Board of Education under the state law that placed CMSD under mayoral control. Board members do not receive a salary.