15.11 Levin Graduates Lead: Former Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson

Frank Jackson (Democrat), an alumnus of Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, served as the Mayor of Cleveland from 2006 to 2022, making him the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history.

A crown jewel of the Jackson administration was the Opportunity Corridor and his Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. The Opportunity Corridor is a major road project that aimed to connect the interstate highways with the University Circle area, promoting economic development and improving transportation access. Alongside this, Mayor Jackson’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative focused on revitalizing Cleveland’s neighborhoods by investing in housing, infrastructure, and community services. These efforts were designed to create jobs, improve living conditions, and bring new opportunities to residents.

Under Mayor Jackson’s leadership, Cleveland also saw economic growth and urban development. He was instrumental in the resurgence of downtown Cleveland, supporting projects such as the development of the Flats East Bank and the renovation of Public Square.  These projects not only revitalized key areas of the city but also attracted new businesses, tourists, and residents, contributing to Cleveland’s economic success.

Mayor Jackson implemented numerous initiatives to enhance police-community relations, reduce crime, and ensure that all Clevelanders felt safe in their neighborhoods. His efforts included the expansion of community policing programs, the establishment of the Office of Professional Standards, and the implementation of the Consent Decree with the U.S. Department of Justice to reform the Cleveland Division of Police.

Mayor Jackson also worked with the state legislature to implement city control over the school district through what was known as the Cleveland Plan for Transforming Schools. This comprehensive education reform initiative, launched in 2012, aimed to improve the quality of education in Cleveland’s public schools through enhanced accountability, expanded school choice, and increased support for teachers and administrators. He empowered principals with more administrative control over their schools.

While the plan initially led to improvements in student performance and higher graduation rates, its impact was tempered by several factors. Over the 12 years since the legislation passed, Ohio shifted its high school graduation requirements, expanded access to private school vouchers, and changed the state report card for districts from a letter scale to a star system. Additionally, the global pandemic severely disrupted the progress measured from the Cleveland Plan, making it difficult to sustain the earlier gains. Despite these challenges, the Cleveland Plan represented a significant effort to reform and improve the city’s education system.