Chicago School Board
The latest news and updates about the race for Chicago’s first elected school board.
Candidates running for Chicago’s school board on Nov. 5. have reported collecting $158,000 as of June 5.
What elected school board district am I in?
Candidates have until June 24 to file petitions to get on the ballot in one of 10 districts across the city, each split into two subdistricts.
In the first elections on Nov. 5, voters will pick one board member per district for a total of 10 elected members. Johnson will appoint a second member in each district, plus a board president to complete the 21-member hybrid school board.
See all the district boundaries
Senate passage of the plan came after the mayor urged Illinois Senate President Don Harmon to support an election for 10 seats this year. The mayor will appoint the other 11 members.
The new bill includes ethics provisions Senate President Don Harmon requested last year. Last week, Mayor Brandon Johnson sent Harmon a letter supporting the Chicago Teachers Union-backed plan to elect 10 members in November, while the mayor appoints the other 11.
With an elected school board coming, Johnson’s appointed board is pushing for more funding and changes on school choice and police in schools.
A fully elected Chicago school board with 21 members isn’t ideal, and the stakes are incredibly high for Chicago kids. But it’s what many Chicagoans wanted, though Mayor Brandon Johnson now wants a hybrid board.
Some of the most critical details of the city’s first-ever school board elections are still up in the air just nine months out from Election Day.
Lawmakers have agreed on a voting map but are considering a last-minute proposal to accelerate moving to a fully elected board.
Stacy Davis Gates complained online that reporters didn’t ask the CTU about the union’s reasons for not supporting a bill that would have given it a fully elected board right away.
Divisions over the city’s elected school board remain — including disagreement over how many members should be appointed versus elected next year. The issue will likely be kicked to January when legislators return to Springfield.
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon says he won’t back “woefully inadequate ethical provisions” of House measure allowing election of 10 board members and appointment of 10 by Mayor Brandon Johnson next year.
An amendment filed by Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, would allow the board to be fully elected as soon as next year by splitting up memberships to two and four-year terms.
In one year, Chicago voters will choose school board members for the first time. But first, state lawmakers have to finally agree on the voting map.
A modest stipend and reimbursement for expenses seems fair, but serving on Chicago’s soon-to-be-elected board shouldn’t be about a paycheck.
The state Senate passed the budget late Thursday, sending it to the House. But completion of a final map of the districts of Chicago’s new elected school board was pushed even further into the future, as both chambers voted to give themselves more time to draw it up.
The General Assembly had planned to adjourn Friday, but Democratic leaders blew that self-imposed deadline. So lawmakers will return to Springfield on Wednesday to wrap up unfinished business, which includes the state budget and the elected school board map.
The map reflects the city’s demographics rather than the minority-heavy CPS student body. Lawmakers on Tuesday said it’s only a first draft.
Lawmakers have until July 1 to draw maps for school board elections in 2024. The process must be transparent, and the maps should reflect the city’s racial makeup, two parent activists write.
The legislation, which the governor signed into law without the fanfare that has accompanied other bill signings, would create a 21-seat board in January 2025, initially split between 11 mayoral appointees — including the board president — and 10 elected members.
“This is obviously something that we’ve never done before,” said state Rep. Kam Buckner, one of the Chicago Democrats who met with Mayor Lori Lightfoot. “This is brand new, and new things are scary.”
Here’s what needs to be addressed before the first election in 2024.
The biggest problem is the size. Twenty-one members. Twice as big as any other school board in the nation. Does Chicago really need 21 more elected politicians?