John Zitzner is an entrepreneur, a visionary, and some would say that he’s a bit of a dreamer. He was positive that in the proper setting, inner-city kids could do as well educationally as their better situated suburban counterparts, and he set about to prove it.

With the assistance of the able team of educators he has assembled at E Prep School, a charter school sponsored by the Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD) he is achieving phenomenal success with a cross-section of grade 6 through 8 students — educational refugees from the public school system if you will — who are willing to face up to the challenges of a rigorous educational environment. And no, he’s not cherry picking, he’ll accept all who are sincere about learning in a safe, caring — albeit rigorous — educational setting.

In the process, he’s painting those who make myriad excuses for our abysmal public education system into a very tight corner. The myths school administrators and teachers’ union officials continually make in regard to their wards’ consistently poor showing on state tests are being blown to smithereens by the students of E Prep; their accomplishments proves there is nothing wrong with inner-city kids, it’s our approach to urban education that has been all wrong.

To fully appreciate the improvement in state test scores E Prep teachers — under the leadership of principal Marshall Emerson III — have achieved, please go to www.eprepschool.org and read them for yourself, but be prepared to be astonished by the much higher test scores that have been posted in just three short years at the school, which is now located on 36th Street just north of Superior Avenue in the Tyler Building Complex.

But the school is very challenging, in more ways than one. In addition to a demanding curriculum, a dress code is in place, and a no-nonsense behavior code of conduct is strictly adhered to. The school day is longer, as is the school year, and parents are expected to do their part at home by seeing to it that homework gets done in a timely manner. “The dog ate my homework” excuse just ain’t going to cut it here.

However, the environment at E Prep is so challenging that some parents — who’ve never experienced such demanding standards in their own educational experience, and probably mistakenly think their child is being picked on or singled out by the teachers — are giving up and withdrawing their children from the school. With a bit of encouragement and positive reinforcement from parents, many of these students would be able to succeed in this demanding environment; but, instead, misguided efforts to protect their children from the expectations of excellence are causing these parents to return their offspring to the educational mediocrity of the Cleveland Public Schools.

Realizing full-well that by calling Cleveland Public Schools mediocre, I run the risk of raising the ire of supporters of public education; but the simple fact is, I too am a supporter of public schools. However, until the administrators figure out a way to force the unions to allow some basic changes to a system of education that hasn’t changed much since1800’s (instituting something close to year-around education would be a good start) CMSD will remain on academic watch … unless it slips into academic emergency … but it clearly doesn’t have to be that way and E Prep is proving it.

The students who stay the course at the school, who persevere because their parents know this kind of rigor is exactly what they need to play catch-up to children from better funded districts, will, in virtually every case, continue improving academically and will one day graduate from college with a shot at owning the hamburger stand where those kids who dropped out will be working behind the counter, inquiring of customers, “… you want fries what that?”

It’s a tough world out there, and the teachers and administrators at E Prep are determined to make sure their students are prepared for it; mollycoddling parents are not doing their children any favor by “protecting” them … unless they want to spend the rest of their lives making excuses for their progeny’s failures. A real, first-rate educational opportunity now exists for urban parents and their kids … courtesy of Zitzner and his dedicated team … and those who seriously want better should be banging down the doors to take advantage of it.

Realizing that he needs to begin the positive educational experience even younger, E Prep’s Zitzner is starting a kindergarten this fall and will add a grade each year through 5th grade. This is a wise move since his dropout rate in the middle school grades will undoubtedly drop dramatically since these students will be accustomed to the expectations of excellence from the very beginning, and hopefully the school will achieve better buy-in from the parents in terms of rigorous expectations.

E Prep had its first graduation on Friday, June 26, and 46 of the original 124 students hung in for the three years and will now go on quality public, private and Catholic high schools. The plan is, with permission from the parents, for E Prep to continue to track the accomplishments of the students through high school and offer tutoring if they are falling behind, and strong encouragement if they are getting off track in terms of discipline and commitment.

John Zitzner is no dreamer; he’s proving there is indeed hope for kids raised in inner-cities — sometimes in impoverished circumstances — to achieve a quality education … now all we have to do is clone him and start thousands more E Prep Schools all across America. Anyone interested in more information on E Prep (parents, volunteers, funding sources) can call 216.373.7801.