CLEVELAND — One day after announcing his intention to step down as CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in June, Eric Gordon sat down for a one-on-one interview with 3News' Christi Paul.
"This is the right time to make a change, but I don't want to make this change," Gordon told Paul. "I just kept looking going 'I can see it, but I don't want it.'"
Gordon revealed three things that he believes is important about his decision to resign. The first point is that leaving his post is not being done flippantly, but it is happening on his terms.
"This was my decision," Gordon insisted. "I know there's a lot of speculation about it. I made this decision. Nobody asked me to go, nobody told me to go."
Secondly, Gordon says while he's leaving, he's not abandoning the transition process come June.
"Look these are my kids. One of the things Mayor Bibb said to me when I shared my decision was 'what role do you want to play?' I said that I don't want to be in the way. I don't want somebody to try to live in my shadows, so whatever role I play has to be not visible. But to any extent I can be helpful, I want to be there," he explained.
Finally, we now know where Gordon will be come June of 2023.
"What I know is my wife and I are staying in Cleveland," Gordon stated. "This is home. It's not like next week you guys are going to uncover that I got a job in Pittsburgh or something. I don't have a job. There's not a single job application out there. I'm doing what I think is right for the district and now I have ten months to figure out what's right for me."
You can watch Christi Paul's full interview with Eric Gordon below:
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