The Maltz Family Foundation and Case officials unveiled a plan to restore the temple to its original splendor and, under a long-term lease, make it home to a university performing arts center for drama, music and more. 

But the Temple’s 14-hundred Jewish families will not lose it.  The rehab will allow the religious iconography to be preserved where it stands, revealed for High Holy Day services several times per year.

Rabbi Richard Block leads the Temple.

RABBI BLOCK:
“This building is of tremendous importance to our congregation, to the Jewish community. To know its going to be a part of the life of this congregation and community for 99 years is thrilling.”

About half the restoration will be paid for with a 12 million dollar gift from the Maltz Family Foundation.  Work will begin as soon as additional funding is acquired, but university president Barbara Snyder says fund raising is already underway - and there is a chance the facility could re-open for the 2012-13 school year.

Margaret Carney is the University’s architect.

MARGARET CARNEY:
“The building itself physically is actually in very good shape; we brought our facilities crew over here and they came away saying ‘we’re not afraid of this building’. Its got a lot of really unique space. It needs a lot of work in terms of building systems.”

The agreement allows CASE to drop previous plans for a $100 million performing arts center project.
The school plans to add pedestrian bridges from its core sites to the Temple and other new buildings on what it now calls “West Campus”.

Rick Jackson, 90.3.

For more than a decade, Ohio has poured billions of dollars into school construction projects, especially in urban districts. But with dwindling enrollments, some are asking if the program is still needed. Rick Savers of Ohio School Facilities Commission gave an emphatic “yes”.

RICK SAVERS:
“Is the program still necessary? Absolutely. School buildings are not a panacea for educational issues, but they do provide teachers and administrators with an environment where they can concentrate on the educational program, to working with the children, and making sure that they get the best education possible.”

Savers says there are many areas of the state that haven’t seen ANY new construction, and the federal stimulus dollars can provide an opportunity. But districts would still have to get voter approval to float the bonds through tax levies - which have not done well in recent elections.

It’s unclear whether Cleveland, whose 2003 bond levy already authorizes it to borrow money for construction, would make use of its 51 million dollar allocation.

With a shrinking student population and sizable budget problems, the district is currently downsizing and closing 16 schools. In a statement, it called the money “....simply an alternative way of financing school construction projects that MAY result in a lower interest rate,” and referred to the allocation as “an option”.

Rick Jackson, 90.3.

Secretary of State Brunner says the new website, college-vote-ohio.com, is designed to help students navigate their voting choices based on where they live. 

Brunner:  “For instance, a Cuyahoga County Student who elects to go to the Ohio State University in Columbus, unless they would consider that Columbus is now their home, they would then need to know what to do to vote an absentee ballot.”

Students can click on one of several residency scenarios to get step by step instructions for each of their voting options, including how and where to register, how to vote by mail and how to find their polling location should they choose vote on election day.  The site also has resources to help faculty, residence hall personnel and student organizations get voting information to students. 

Sanders: It’s an agonizing process but this is democracy in action and it’s all about our students and their success and so I remain very optimistic about our improvement going forward.

Sanders says there is room for further change as the plan is implemented. The latest draft of the plan would close down 16 schools and force a lot of teachers to reapply for their jobs - Union President David Quolke puts the number at about 800, among other changes. Quolke says he wasn’t surprised the plan passed, but he is concerned about how fast these changes are supposed to happen.

Quolke: This is a real abbreviated timeline to get such a large scale reform done. Our goal is if it’s going to be done, it’s going to be done well.

Quolke says he expects the scale of the plan reflect the financial support it gets. The district is counting on more funding sources to come through, including a hefty grant from the federal Race to the Top program, which is still in some doubt. 

The new “Entrepreneur’s Idea Exchange” will allow aspiring capitalists a chance to seek help in refining or expanding business prototypes and ideas.

The group’s chief organizer is the University of Akron’s Director of Outreach for the College of Business Administration, Corrine Beller.

CORRINE BELLER:
“Several heads are always better than one head when you’re doing idea development. People look at concepts, issues, ideas, from different perspectives. There can be just diamonds out there that you haven’t thought of, and it can help you move your idea forward, and maybe avoid some pitfalls that you might not have seen.”

Strong support for the effort is coming from many avenues: business groups, incubators, foundations, and the Urban League among them. All responded to a call from the University, which is spearheading the effort with a sharply defined goal.

BELLER:
“If we can find ways to help the city, the county, the region further develop in an economic perspective, and bring more companies and more jobs, it’s better for everyone, including the University.”

The procedural help is available to entrepreneurial efforts in any development stage.  The first session is at Akron’s Business Administration building next Tuesday, March 16th.

Rick Jackson, 90.3.

But while closing schools is considered essential to boost efficiency in the the district, that’s a relatively small part of the plan, says district Communications chief John Hairston. 

Hairston:  “You can close schools and save a couple million dollars, but if you don’t transform the behaviors of the people who deliver services to kids - that’s not only teachers, but all 8,000 employees - closing schools will not change where we’re trying to go.  So it’s just one part of it, but the other 75 percent is truly academic transformation.”

Hairston says changing behaviors requires a robust system of evaluating teachers and other staff - one that is based more on how well students perform. 

Hairston:  “And if in fact there are more weaknesses than strengths, and there are less challenges in the context of student achievement and we don’t reach the goals, then that in itself would recommend that there would be some drastic moves in regard to those particular personnel.”

The Transformation Plan is expected to cost more than 70 million dollars, and the district expects support from local organizations like the Gund and Cleveland Foundations and the Greater Cleveland Partnership.  It’s also banking on a large chunk - 15 to 20 million dollars - from President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative.  Ohio has applied for some 400 million dollars of Race to the Top funding, and has made the first cut of applicants.  However, not all 16 finalists will get the grant. 

Bill Rice, 90.3

After listing 2009 city achievements from a balanced city budget to cost reductions in municipal operations, Jackson said that no matter what other advances the region boasts, true success hinges on providing quality education, and that systemic change has to come at a `county’ level, in order to make Northeast Ohio globally competitive.

Jackson” “This can be accomplished by creating a county wide authority that will allow for a review of the way in which education is funded in this county… (applause, then fades), joint procurement for goods and services to help save money and reduce costs, joint negotiation on major cost points, such as health care benefits for our employees.. “

Jackson’s call also included developing county wide academic standards, instituting county wide magnet schools, and creating strong partnerships between elementary schools, high schools, and local colleges.

Saying that there has ‘never been a better time for change’; Mayor Jackson declared himself ready to work with those who are fashioning leadership changes at the county level - but warned that such leadership needs to ensure it is operating `outside’ the long held system of political ideologies.

Jackson:  “If we create a political agenda of power, then we’re not going to get anything done. So if, if this is about power politics, as in ‘who’s the boss’, - who ‘runs the place’, then we’re not going to get anything done.”

And, on the topic of sustainability – a favorite theme of Jackson’s since he became Mayor – Jackson called on the city to seize ‘opportunity’.

Jackson:  “There’s an opportunity for Cleveland to change how we do business - and - what our businesses do. To become sustainable not only in what we produce, but in how we operate our businesses, and how we operate our different governments.”

And he spoke of initiatives currently underway that he hopes will bring jobs to Cleveland, citing ongoing negotiations with a Chinese LED maker which plans to open an American operation here; and a new trash-to-energy gasification technology that could potentially create hundreds of jobs.

Jackson frequently mentioned the Cleveland City Council, praising the ease with which his office generally works with the 19 members, He did not speak of those groups in the city with which he has butted heads, such as the Police Union.  But he reported improved crime statistics in 2009 in most categories. Homicides was the exception – they were up slightly, but 11 of those deaths were tied to accused serial killer Anthony Sowell.

Cleveland made progress in demolishing foreclosed and abandoned properties, tearing down about 15 percent out of about 8,000 – more, numerically, than Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. 

Toward the end of his speech, Jackson returned to his theme of a more county-wide approach to education, summing up the challenge to the area with strong, near-threatening language.

Jackson:  “If we fail to act, then we will be squandering the greatest opportunity this community has had in decades to reinvest and reinvent in itself as a thriving city and county for generations to come.”

Rick Jackson
90.3.

Edwards desire before her death was to leave a legacy in medical education. 
The Foundation was impressed by the unprecedented partnership between the science-based school and nine area science and medicine institutions.

Brian McDonald is Executive Director of the Edwards Foundation.  He says the program will impact ALL 400 students at the advanced school through special lectures, programs, and opportunities at CASE’s medical school.

BRIAN McDONALD:
“We have no delusions that these kids need our help… They’re already performing really well on their own. But the stuff that they’re gonna get out of this is going to make them even more competitive. And then at the end of this educational event, we’re going to be able to award one of those students a full ride scholarship to CASE undergraduate, and then follow that with a full ride scholarship to CASE Medical School.”

That’s a package with an estimated value of $468,000 in 2010 dollars…

Beginning with this year’s juniors, the foundation will award the 8 year educational scholarship to one school of science and medicine graduate, every year.

Joan C. Edwards was an English immigrant who traveled the country as a musician and actress, before marrying and settling in West Virginia. A second endowment will be placed at Huntington’s Marshall University, for additional medical education scholarships.

Rick Jackson, 90.3.

Sparks: As a gay student, how can I be expected to uphold a standard of abstinence-until-marriage when I live in a state where I cannot marry?

Sparks says for the past 18 months he’s e-mail, called, and sent letters to members of the Parma school board and administration hoping to get a meeting about broadening the schools sex ed policy. Last week he wore a t-shirt that read “condoms save lives,” but that too didn’t win him an audience with school administrators. So this week he showed up at a meeting of the school board to protest what he says is the school’s education about morals but not about sex. 

Sparks: I don’t have sex but I think safe sex is pretty awesome. So it’s like if you want to do that, if you want to have sex, do it safely.

House Bill 316 would require all Ohio Public Schools that teach sex-ed to teach a comprehensive model, including information about contraceptives. Peggy Pecchio of Operation Keepsake, a group that teaches abstinence-centered sex-ed in 170 Ohio schools, opposes the bill.

Pecchio: What it’s doing is it’s really taking away parental choice.

Actually, the proposed law would allow parents to keep their kids out of sex-ed classes altogether if they objected to the content. But statehouse observers say the odds of its passage aren’t much better this year than last.

Among them are Case Western Reserve, which will focus on five health areas; Cleveland State, which will host a Center of 21st Century Health Professionals and Researchers; and Kent State - whose center will concentrate on the Health of Individuals and Communities.

Provost Bob Frank of KSU says there are less than 20 bacculareate degree programs in Public Health in the U.S, and for Kent State, the designation is integral to their goals of growing the Public Health sector into a major part of the university.

BOB FRANK: “With a focus on it by Kent State, it really becomes a true mark of excellence for Kent State and benefits the state in a way that’s truly excellent.”

Those benefits to Ohio come in forms of both research dollars, and recognition, which Governor Strickland said today would generate new economic growth, and new, hard-to-outsource jobs.

Bob Frank says there is already early growth, with more than 30 students signed up to major in Public Health at Kent State, and that all the participating universities can use this as a way to keep top Ohio high school students who might otherwise have left the state for schooling, here at home.

25 faculty members will be hired at Kent State alone, to create its’ new center.

Rick Jackson, 90.3.

Researchers at the Council for Aid to Education said gifts to private schools suffered more sharply than public schools. Yale University saw giving decline nearly 27%, the worst number in the country.

But many Ohio schools fared far better. 

At Case Western Reserve University, Vice President Bruce Loessin says new cash was increased for the second year in a row, an increase of 5.25% over fiscal 2008.

At Baldwin Wallace, the Vice President for advancement called 2009 “a banner year”, with a 22% increase in total dollars received, while their annual fund showed a drop of only 1%.

Ohio University reported that the number of contributors fell, but by less than 5%.... while the ‘actual dollars’ collected were nearly $350 million `more’ than in 2008.

At The Ohio State University, money from gifts was also barely down - just 1.9% from 2008, to 2009.

The much smaller Cleveland Institute of Art did see a decline in giving along the lines of the national report, between 10 &12%.

But school Director Mike Cole characterized it as not being a budget breaker.

MIKE COLE:
“in the fall of 2008 through the spring of 2009, we definitely saw a fall off in contributions to our annual fund and a slackening of the pace of people giving to our capital campaign.”

Yet at the end of 2009, Cole says he’s seen donors returning, and that the Institute’s first ever capital campaign is continuing to get gifts.

Case’s Loessin characterized the region’s rebound as fortunate, saying the strength of the schools has a positive impact on the entire economy.