Two op-ed pieces in PD today--one blatantly intended to sell a levy to the black community....

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/03/greater_cleveland_leg...

Have to save this comment in case it gets erased by the PD :
 

Nina Turner is simply amazing. She rallied against Issue 2 because it was a straight partisan issue and she attacked the right wing for the bill saying " never let the truth get in the way of a good story " and lines like " we can't go back and we won't go back " and it was an attack on the " middle class ". She had a nice group of one liners as she spoke throughout Ohio. That was then when the opposition was John Kasich. Now that we have Frankie Jackson as a DUMBOCRAT as her opposition, she quickly says we have to fight for compromise for the betterment of the children of Cleveland. She is a drama queen if I ever saw one and a true partisan political hack. She doesn't dare criticize a member of her political party along with Sandra Williams or Armond Budish because that is way more important to their careers then doing the right thing which is proposing a real plan for the city of cleveland and it's students.

Does anyone with an ounce of intelligence realize you cannot fix schools by this corporate reform movement by privatizing public schools, turning them into for profit charters and then all of a sudden say that you achieved a miracle. The status quo Mrs. Turner is the current so called transformation plan. It's nothing more than blaming so called lazy teachers and their unions and shaping the debate that if we just gut the union, all will be right with Cleveland Schools. This plan doesn't account for students living in poverty, student home life, student preparedness for school, lack of economic development in the community, malnutrition, single parent families and all the main factors which contribute to why students fail. Take the same teachers in CMSD and place them in Hudson and they amazingly become brilliant teachers. Take a School Counselor in CMSD where has the recent graduation rate was 50-60% over the years and place them in Solon and I am sure they would hit 99%. Wow, their guidance techniques may have all of a sudden gotten better. Amazing. Lets get to the root of the problem which is POVERTY. You can talk about fake band aids all you want but this plan is a illusion of a band aid. Another example of closing failing schools, more charters, fire teachers, get rid of tenure and seniority, more high stakes testing and that will fix american public schools. How about we support and invest in schools that have the highest needs of students with disabilities and ELL learners as well with students of behavioral issues? Why is this a teacher centered plan? TFA isn't coming into Cleveland and saving the district nor is any other Wall Street Corporate Reform Movement that is being tried all over this nation in various urban districts.

Public Education is a 500 billion dollar public sector that can't wait to be tapped into by big business, corporations, politicians and their sponsors. The charter movement is the status quo to continue to privatize our schools. It doesn't work and all the major research and data shows this. Frank Jackson and whoever crafted this plan for him know this but they still stubbornly claim that " something has to be done ". Yea something has to be done as long as it's again gutting the teachers union and privatizing schools. This plan is a joke and so is Mayoral control of CMSD. It doesn't work and hasn't worked for years. The business model does not work in public education. It is being done as the so called " change " in order to fit the needs of private managers who are making a killing off of our public schools. The testing companies are also racking in millions of dollars with initiatives like RTTT and NCLB.

This all goes back to Turner. Why don't you stand for something instead of protecting this buffoon Jackson? To actually think this a good plan or 70% of it is good is doing a real disservice to the students and families who live in CMSD. You know this and you still don't have the moral compass to stand up and do whats right for your political career. This is a shame and CMSD is going to get worse if this plan goes through as the teacher turnover will spike and no one in their right mind will expect CMSD to be able to attract the highest quality educators. Good job. Way to sabotage your own district.

And, the other presenting the more rational examination of the situation...

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/03/for_real_cleveland_sc...

Meanwhile, the real fight in NEO will be over Water--

MAYOR JACKSON TOLD STUDENTS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER IN OUR DAILY LIVES BUT MADE NO MENTION THAT HE IS DEMOLISHING A SWIMMING POOL LOVED BY STUDENTS!

On a warm and sunny Thursday March 22, 2012 – the SAVE JOHN MARSHALL campaign participated in the WORLD WATER DAY 2012.

A short ceremony was held in City Hall – where Mayor Jackson addressed 200 students from five Cleveland Schools -- about the importance of water in our daily lives and also handed out a proclamation.

But the Mayor made no mention that his appointed Board of Education/School District was demolishing the Swimming Pool in the John Marshall Recreation Center – a pool that is loved by both the students and community.

In honor of WORLD WATER DAY 2012, each student carried a day’s worth of water in bottles to honor fellow students in third world countries who are not as fortunate as students in Cleveland to have a Great Lake as a source of water supply.

The SAVE JOHN MARSHALL campaign – marched carrying the sign saying:
SAVE JOHN MARSHALL! SWIMMING POOL BEING DEMOLISHED – in one hand and the traveling cart with other signs – in the other hand.

The objective was to inform Mayor Jackson – what is going to happen to the fully-functional swimming pool at John Marshall – which will be destroyed when a new John Marshall High School is built – an option advocated by Councilman Sweeney.

As I passed Mayor Jackson – I said hello to our Mayor and added that I was from the SAVE JOHN MARSHALL campaign – and wanted the Mayor to save our swimming pool. His honor smiled back without any verbal response about our campaign.

I hope Mayor Jackson will read this and not only SAVE our swimming pool – but also SAVE JOHN MARSHALL, our auditorium, and also our underground tracks.

Mayor Jackson who always reminds our children about the importance of personal responsibility – has not responded – to three requests for a meeting – pending for over 10 months -- sent via e-mail and certified mail -- to SAVE JOHN MARSHALL.

Mayor Jackson has not yet responded to the following request sent via e-mail on
January 8, 2012 and via certified mail on January 10, 2012:

“Please also direct the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to renovate the fully-
functional Recreation Center, with a swimming pool, so the John Marshall
neighborhood has the same amenities as the Collinwood neighborhood.”

Mayor Jackson built a Recreation Center in Collinwood, containing a swimming pool, for $11 million. The Center opened in November, 2011.

A response is also pending from Councilman Sweeney to a request made at the
December 6, 2011 NEC (Neighborhood Education Committee) meeting that the City of Cleveland should pay for the renovation of JMHS Recreation Center, with a
swimming pool, as the community was using it.

The photograph is a composite of three scenes – SAVE JOHN MARSHALL!
SWIMMING POOL BEING DEMOLISHED! sign, Mayor Jackson arriving at
Rock Hall, and 200 students following his honor.