Families in Cleveland are seeing a shift in their school options as the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) closes and merges dozens of schools because of declining enrollment. At the same time, a new nonprofit, Future Ready Cleveland, is bringing a wave of specialized charter schools to the city, offering smaller, career‑focused programs that the district is moving away from.

Portfolio model guides the changes

The dual movement is rooted in a strategy first introduced in Cleveland in 2012, known as the portfolio model. Under this approach, city and district leaders present families with a “portfolio” of school choices, giving individual schools greater operational freedom while holding them to academic results. Schools that fail to meet standards are expected to close.

Future Ready Cleveland’s role

Future Ready Cleveland was founded in 2024 by Holly Trifiro, former chief of education to Mayor Justin Bibb. The nonprofit’s stated goal is to provide high‑quality school options to every Cleveland child, regardless of who operates the school. So far it has helped launch at least three charter‑style schools slated to open in the next two years, including an all‑girls leadership academy in the Union‑Miles Park neighborhood that welcomed its first class this fall.

Trifiro notes that many of the city’s strongest schools are concentrated on the West Side, creating a disparity that Future Ready aims to address. “It’s an ingrained mindset that Clevelanders choose their schools,” she said. “How do we solve for that intersection of quality and need?”

Funding and national support

Future Ready’s work is funded by City Fund, a national organization that emphasizes expanding public school choice. City Fund spokesperson Kristen Forbriger told Signal Cleveland the group backs local leaders rather than imposing a specific reform model. “The people that are best positioned to improve schools are local leaders on the ground,” she said.

District consolidation and its impact

Meanwhile, CMSD’s consolidation plan is intended to streamline resources and ensure that every high school can offer rigorous programs such as Advanced Placement courses. Some smaller, themed high schools are being merged into larger campuses, and a few unique programs have been shuttered or absorbed. For example, the district‑run STEM school MC2STEM lost its designation after merging with East Tech, while Future Ready provided a grant to the Bio‑Med Science Academy, a state‑designated STEM charter.

District leaders say the changes are driven by financial necessity, but they also see an opportunity to broaden academic offerings across all high schools.

Historical context of the portfolio model

The portfolio model was coined in the mid‑1990s by Paul Hill, founder of the Center on Reinventing Public Education. Hill explains that the model decentralizes control, prioritizes parental choice, and holds schools accountable through the threat of closure or reform by a manager.

In Cleveland, the model was first adopted through the 2012 Cleveland Plan, developed under former Mayor Frank Jackson with support from local foundations, business leaders, and the nonprofit charter network Breakthrough. The plan funded new schools like Campus International High School, MC2STEM, and Facing History New Tech, and created the Cleveland Transformation Alliance to oversee charter performance. State legislative changes later shifted much of that oversight to the state level.

Looking ahead

Future Ready’s approach differs from the original Cleveland Plan primarily in its funding source. While the 2012 plan relied on local foundations, Future Ready draws national money from City Fund, which invests in city‑based nonprofits that bring high‑quality charter schools to their communities.

Both the district’s consolidation and the nonprofit’s charter expansion aim to give parents more options and maintain high academic standards. As Cleveland continues to navigate enrollment declines, the portfolio model remains a central framework for balancing choice, accountability, and the goal of providing every child with a strong education.

Original reporting: Signal Cleveland — read the source article.