To ensure every student has access to a quality education, the city of Cleveland in Ohio needs about 48,000 more seats in high-performing schools, or about five times the current number. This is one of the findings from IFF’s study that identifies the number of seats needed in high-performing schools as well as the areas in which they should be located to benefit the largest number of children.
IFF’s report, A Shared Responsibility: Ensuring Quality Education in Every Cleveland Neighborhood, evaluates both district-run and charter schools according to their grade on the Ohio Performance Index. In an April 28 presentation to nonprofit advocacy group Cleveland Transformation Alliance, IFF CEO Joe Neri detailed findings from the study of over 160 schools serving 59,000 children in the city.
The supply-and-demand analysis is unique in that it looks at a school system’s physical capacity through a performance lens, making clear where the city has the most students without a nearby high-performing school—not simply where Cleveland has the most students and fewest schools.
Other key findings include:
- Just over 60 percent of the high-performing seats needed are concentrated in 11 neighborhoods.
- The primary source of top-performing seats are in the district’s magnet and citywide schools.
- Over a third of high-performing seats come from charter schools sponsored by the district as well as one of the educational service centers.
- On average, 13 percent of seats in high-performing schools are filled by students who live outside of Cleveland.
IFF has performed similar studies in 16 cities in our region, including Chicago, IL; Milwaukee, WI; St. Louis, MO; Kansas City, MO; and Indianapolis.