The George Gund Foundation awarded a $700,000 grant to support the bold strategy to reinvent public education in Cleveland proposed by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon.

"The Foundation has been investing in a portfolio of new, innovative and excellent schools in Cleveland for many years in partnership with the Cleveland Foundation, and we enthusiastically support the expansion of this investment as outlined in Cleveland’s Plan for Transforming Schools," said David Abbott, executive director of Gund.

"This plan calls for a transition from a single-source school district to a new system of district and charter schools that work in partnership to create achievement gains for every student. The plan is built upon growing the number of excellent schools in Cleveland, regardless of provider, and giving these schools autonomy over staff and budgets in exchange for high accountability for performance."

The grant was among 75 totaling $3,645,349 approved by the Foundation’s board at its first meeting of 2012.
See the rest of Gund's recent grants here.