Matt Rado

Matt Rado

2019 NACSA Leader

Executive Director, Charter Schools Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Matt Rado, Executive Director for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) Charter Schools Office, has worked in authorizing with the district since 2016. He is a passionate believer in school choice and ensuring charter schools provide opportunities for all students to succeed while meeting high standards of equity and public accountability.

He has extensive experience in government and politics, as both a grassroots organizer on numerous campaigns and a staffer for a member of congress. Before working in authorizing with CMSD, he served as State Outreach Director for StudentsFirst Ohio. He holds a BA in Government from Cornell University and an MPA from Cleveland State University.

When he’s not working with Cleveland’s charter schools, he is busy with his wife and two young daughters.


Most Recent Posts
No Shortcuts to Student Success: The Case for Statewide Annual Assessments
When I think about why I’ve dedicated my career to advancing and strengthening the ideas and practices of authorizing, I think about the students I’ve met over the years—bright, curious...
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Raising the Bar: NACSA’s Updated State Policy Recommendations
NACSA believes that strong laws enable strong authorizing. In turn, strong authorizing leads to strong public education outcomes for students, families, and communities. That’s why we regularly update our state...
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A New Path Forward: NACSA’s Bold New School Application Guidance
I’ll never forget a foundational principle I learned nearly two decades ago, while authorizing in Indianapolis: It should be hard to gain approval to start a new charter school. But...
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