A group of concerned teachers and parents are circulating a petition to change Cleveland Metropolitan School District back to an elected board, after almost 30 years of a mayoral-appointed system.
Sarah Hodge, a Collinwood High School teacher, stood on the sidewalk outside Cleveland School of the Arts this week asking passersby to sign the petition. She said recent decisions by the district to close almost 30 schools and lay off hundreds of educators were the "catalyst" to spur her group to action. At the same time, Hodge, a social studies teacher whose school was part of the closures, said discontent with CMSD decisions has been bubbling for "a very long time."
"A lot of parents are upset about transportation, about school books, and about the fact that not just this administration, but over time, that people have promised them a lot and never delivered," Hodge said.
CMSD is the only school district in Ohio with a mayoral-controlled system. The current board structure has been in place since 1998, one year after the Ohio Legislature changed state law to allow Cleveland's mayor to appoint all nine board members. Cleveland's mayor picks appointees from a list of candidates chosen by a nominating committee. The mayor also must "concur" with the board when selecting a CEO to run the district.
Hodge called the current system a "benevolent dictatorship," noting she doesn't believe Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb or CMSD CEO Warren Morgan are actively trying to hurt the system or families within it. But an elected board system will provide more accountability around district decisions, she argued.
"You could argue at the mic in public speaking all day, but they don't have to listen to you," Hodge said, "because you don't have the right to do oversight, you don't have the right to vote, you don't have the right to change anything. That only rests with the mayor. So the mayor may be a very good person, but you have to trust that he knows better than you for your own child. And I don't think any parent, grandparent, community member thinks that other people know what's better for their child than them."
Current Cleveland Board of Education Chair Sara Elaqad defended the board's decision-making in a statement this week. She also expressed concern about the introduction of politics into the selection of board members.
"Our only agenda is the education and success of every child in Cleveland," Elaqad said. "We listen to our community, study what our students need, and make decisions based on that clear data — not on political pressure or any individual's interests."
Changing to an elected school board will open the window to political action committees and candidates potentially needing to find ways to bankroll election campaigns.
A referendum to keep the mayoral-appointed school board system in Cleveland was approved by more than 70% of voters in 2002, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Despite opposing the move initially, the Cleveland Teachers Union and the Cleveland branch of the NAACP shifted their stances to support the system in that year, the report added.
Under the current system, an 11-member nominating panel provides a list of school board candidates to the Cleveland mayor to pick from. According to Ohio law, the nominating panel is made up of: three parents or guardians of CMSD students; three people appointed by the mayor; one person appointed by the president of Cleveland City Council; one educator selected by the teachers union; one person selected by CMSD's principals; one mayoral-appointed person who is a representative of the "business community;" and one president of an institution of higher education selected by the state superintendent.
The process to get the elected school board issue on the ballot is also a unique one. Hodge cited one section of Ohio law which suggests petitioners must gather signatures equal to 10% of the city's electors before submitting the issue to the Cleveland board of education. The board then must pass two resolutions, one to put the question on the "next regular municipal election," and a second to create a commission to propose "two or more plans of organization" for the new school board's makeup. The commissions would be filled by the board, the mayor and several people appointed by leaders of cities touched by CMSD's footprint (jurisdictions that include cities like Bratenahl and Brook Park).
Cleveland School Board Secretary Kevin Burtzlaff did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent Thursday.
"It is too early in the process for the Board of Elections to be involved with the initiative," Mike West with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections said when asked about the petition process Wednesday. "Our work normally begins when petitions are submitted for verification."
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb's office declined to comment on the petition Tuesday.
