Sept. 15, 2025
The release of the State of Ohio’s school district report card for the 2024/25 school year shows the Cleveland Metropolitan School District saw academic proficiency improvements in every tested area, some by more than 10 percentage points over last year’s scores.
“We have a great deal to be proud of this year, and areas that demand renewed focus and attention,” said CMSD CEO Dr. Warren Morgan. “We improved proficiency in all tested subject areas. Students have now exceeded the CMSD pre-pandemic proficiency rates in HS English Language Arts, Algebra 1, and US Government. In all my years being an educator, I have not seen gains like this before and the academic progress we made this year exceeds the proficiency progress we made last year when we achieved a 3-star rating for the first time! I'm immensely proud of the hard work our scholars, educators, and leaders are doing as we strive to provide a high-quality education to all children in Cleveland.”
However, the state report card changed this year to now incorporate the College, Career, Workforce, and Military Readiness (CCMWR) standard. Historically, our district has struggled on this measure, and as anticipated, our overall rating has decreased by ½ star to 2.5 stars. In fact, only 35% of CMSD seniors are meeting the CCWMR standard and our highest performing high schools on the John Hay campus have gone down by a ½ a star because of the work we have to do to ensure all students are college and career ready.
This underscores the importance of the work we’re doing through the Building Brighter Futures initiative and our Board Goals. Currently, only 59% of high schools offer career/trade programs, 78% of high schools offer college credit and 38% of K-8 schools offer enrichment courses. With Building Brighter Futures, this will change so that 100% of high schools offer college and career pathways and 100% of K-8 schools offer at least one enrichment course.
“Our report card also demonstrates we must continue to work on reducing chronic absenteeism.,” concluded Dr. Morgan. “We’re hard at work in this area. This is not a time to make excuses or slow our work down... it’s time to LEVEL UP! We are making great academic progress, and we have pockets of excellence in our system, but we have work to do to ensure we are providing the excellent education ALL CMSD scholars need and deserve!”
Mayor Bibb: “This year’s report card shows strong progress across every academic measure, alongside clear challenges. While CMSD’s overall rating shifted from three stars to 2.5—driven largely by a new state standard and persistent attendance issues—our students continue to achieve and grow in every subject. That progress is real, and it proves what’s possible when young people have access to high-quality learning.
Still, progress must be the starting point, not the finish line. We cannot be satisfied until every student in every classroom is thriving. Too many students face barriers to consistent attendance and to the full range of opportunities they deserve.
As a community, we must come together — families, educators, businesses, and civic leaders — to ensure our students are in class every day and ready to learn. Through Building Brighter Futures, CMSD is prepared to accelerate achievement and ensure every graduate is ready for college, career, and life. Our students deserve nothing less, and we will stand with them every step of the way.”
Sara Elaqad, Chair of the CMSD Board of Education: This year’s State report card scores underline for me that CMSD is on the right track, pursuing the right strategy with the right leadership. To stay on course, at the end of last school year, the Board proactively adopted district goals and guardrails to ensure student success. College and Career Readiness and Chronic Absenteeism are components of our district goals. We are revamping curriculum in many areas, and we’re already seeing the impacts from work. We have real work to do in expanding and deepening our college and career pathways, and that work is underway now, so we expect to see results soon. Most importantly, all of the areas of challenge that need focus, and the areas of excellence that demand expansion are dependent on our Building Brighter Futures Initiative, which will help us ensure a high-quality education for every child in every school, along with the fiscal sustainability we need to maintain this excellence for generations to come.
To learn more about Building Brighter Futures (BBF), join us at one of the upcoming BBF regional meetings. You can learn more at https://www.clevelandmetroschools.org/Page/22034.
For further information, please contact CMSD District Communication Officer Jon Benedict at jon.benedict@clevelandmetroschools.org or 216.409.6160.
