My Platform: Education

This is what I would do if I were mayor right now (12/12/10):

The first problem Northeast Ohio needs to tackle is education. Without a healthy school network, without a high % of students going to college, we will continue to lose population and resources.
These problems begin with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Without a healthy school district and options for residents, our reputation is shot.
We've invested billions of dollars in stadiums and public venues over the last 20 years, but as Brent Larkin questions in his Plain Dealer article today, when will we put the focus on educating our kids?
As mayor, my first 3 priorities would be education, economics, and safety.
I will study various options for the CMSD to look into for reform, create options for students, and create a "Cleveland Promise."

1. CMSD reform.
In the wake of CMSD CEO Eugene Sander's retirement announcement, the district is left leaderless in a critical period. The District's 5-year Transformation Plan is getting launched, and its creator is abandoning ship as it were. My first order of business would be to look into alternatives for this position, given whoever is in the CEO seat when I'm inaugurated, and ensure this leader is the correct one. From my limited intel, I believe Eric Gordon would be a good fit for this position.
I would nurture the Transformation Plan as well as encourage and promote the opening of two College Preparatory Academies on each side of town, replacing a current high school respectively. Each high school would have an application selection like the School of the Arts and the  John Hay Campus Academies. Each of the College Prep schools would offer AP classes and help nurture students, preparing them for college wherever they wish to go. The college preparatory academies would complement the district's specialized academies.
As mayor I would also look into the administrative structure of the district. I would rearrange or cut unnecessary positions, as well as stand up for the students of Cleveland by negotiating with the Teacher's Union to put more money into the classrooms.
2. Options for Cleveland students.
Growing up, I knew dozens of families who moved out of the city and away from their workplace for the sole purpose of education. A decent education is a right for all students, no matter their ethnicity or economic background. Any student with a will to succeed should have the parental and teacher support for their endeavors to come to fruition. If you live in Cleveland and start a family, the CMSD is not an option. So your options become charter schools and private schools. Charter schools receive less dollars per student than in CMSD, and the options of charter schools are limited in the city. Private schools cost money, and the extra money coming out of a family's earnings for an education drives parents out of the city so their children can attend a suburban school district.
Although this would pose a problem to CMSD and the Teacher's Union, as Mayor of Cleveland I would  fight to get state and local money earned through property taxes (the way these things are funded) to FOLLOW THE STUDENT. I would make a concession for CMSD so that 80% of the money appropriated for a student through the state and city would be able to follow a student if they leave a district. Therefore CMSD can get a leg up on funding and be able to cover the jobs necessary to appropriate the money to the correct schools.
What does this mean?
Cleveland students get between $13,000 and $14,000 per student every year. 2/3 of this comes from the state. In wake of education cuts which I predict will happen at the state level, this amount will further decrease.
If your child attends a charter grade school in the county (a charter school is a state-funded autonomy), the state money and 50% of the city's approbated funds would follow the student to this school. The 50% of the city's funds for that student would be a 25% increase per student over what charter schools currently receive. A win for charter schools. Grade school costs (in my experience with private schools) are less than high schools. Therefore a grade school needs less % of the city's funds than a high school. If the city has $14,000 per student and 2/3 of that is state funded, the charter school would now receive $11,600 instead of its current $9,300, and CMSD would recover $1,400 of its approbation.
If your child attends a charter high school in the county, the school would receive the state money per-student and 80% of the city's money. If the city has $14,000 per student and 2/3 of that is state funded, the charter school would now receive $13,000 instead of $9,300 per student, and CMSD would recover $1,000 of the cost to offset it's lost revenue to the charter schools. A win for charter high schools.
If your child attends a private school and you live in the city of Cleveland, these transfers also count.
If you choose to send your child to a suburban school district, (something Cleveland would have to negotiate), instead of the family paying to send the student there, the per-student funds would transfer over just like charter and private schools.
 The $11,600 for a grade school student and $13,000 for a high school student would be profitable for most private, charter, and suburban schools in our county. And if that price does not cover it, the family can pay the remaining amount.

What do I predict this system would do?

CONS:
-Difficult to maneuver
-Teacher's Union would flip
-CMSD would initially suffer
-CMSD would lose revenue
-Teacher's union would be forced to make massive concessions to keep jobs.
-More school closings, possibly.
-Loss of jobs. Initially.
-Inner-ring suburbs could lose population

Pros:
Since the grand picture is about the students, getting people to move into Cleveland, and improving the quality of overall education:
-Families would have choices of where to send students, as long as they can get them there.
-Charter schools, private schools, and suburban districts would benefit financially if the could attract the most Cleveland-resident students.
-The competition would force each school's hand to be the best it can be.
-The teacher's union would HAVE to make concessions
-CMSD would HAVE to reform
-All Cleveland students with a will to learn will have the option to do it for free.
-The 20-50% saved by the city could help pay for new free textbooks for students in their district.
-CMSD would still have the upper hand in finances per student, transportation, and specialized academies.
-Residents in the city would stay to benefit from the options
-Residents from suburbs would move into Cleveland to benefit from the options (particularly attending private schools for free and saving tens of thousands of dollars)
-Increased revenue from property taxes.
-Increase in population.
-The increased business in the city would spur more local jobs for unskilled laborers and boost the economy.

3. The "Cleveland Promise."
-As detailed in Brent Larkin's "When are we going to build a future for Cleveland?: Brent Larkin"
-Gather a philanthropic fund to assist Cleveland residents attending any school (with additional amounts for years lived in the city) attend college.
-Makes most sense if there's additional money for Cuyahoga County schools, particularly Tri-C and CSU.

As mayor I would tackle these issues immediately and stand strong for the residents of Cleveland. We need a change. Cleveland suffers from a reputation of 3 things we CAN change (not weather): Education, Safety, and Economics.
Fixing our education and drawing people back into the city would help us with the other two.
The first month in office would consist of meeting with officials and leaders to determine the impact of these decisions, as well as holding an extensive series of community meetings where I would gather ideas for changing the district and improving options for citizens.
Education is key for our region to move forward and attract businesses.

Thanks for reading this. I'll edit it and support it with more facts as my campaign unravels these next three years.