Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.
The members of a new partially elected Chicago school board made history Wednesday, marking a pivotal moment in the city’s transition away from mayoral control of its schools.
Ten of 20 members were elected by Chicago residents in November; the rest were appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, who had yet to appoint a final, 21st member in time for today’s swearing-in, as spelled out in state law. A fault line between these two groups came into view immediately when the board split on naming a vice president — a vote that signaled the mayor’s continued sway over the body.
The inaugural meeting of the hybrid Chicago Board of Education came after more than a decade of advocacy by educators, parents, and others to elect school board members. After a string of failed attempts, Illinois lawmakers cleared the way for it in 2021. They passed a law laying out a gradual shift, in which a partly elected board — the largest of any major U.S. city — takes office now, and a fully elected board would be seated in early 2027.
In a newly renovated and greatly expanded boardroom at the district’s downtown headquarters, elected board members and mayoral appointees, including two who ran unsuccessfully this past fall, took the oath of office and reviewed the agenda for their first formal meeting on Jan. 30.
The new unpaid board steps in at a crucial moment for the 323,000-student district, which faces looming budget deficits, demographic changes that will likely bring about further enrollment declines, and the task of signing off on a new teachers contract. The board will also grapple with who will lead CPS after the previous board pushed out CEO Pedro Martinez without cause, giving him six final months at the helm of the district under his contract.
Martinez is fighting that decision in court, but even if that is successful, his contract ends this spring, meaning the new board will face a school board’s arguably most important task: choosing a new top administrator.
The members’ first action Wednesday was a divided vote for board vice president, underscoring that Johnson still holds a majority on the new body. All of Johnson’s appointees and three elected members voted for Olga Bautista, the mayor’s appointed representative from district 10b.
It was an early glimpse at the dynamic of the new board, where many elected and appointed members bring conflicting views on Martinez’s departure and other key issues. Five of the board’s members voted in late December to fire the schools chief after months of efforts by the Johnson administration to oust him at the urging of the Chicago Teachers Union. Martinez and Johnson have clashed over how — and how much — to pay for a new teachers contract and other budgetary issues.
But many incoming members were strongly opposed to that move, urging their appointed colleagues last month not to take any action on Martinez or the teachers contract before the new board is seated.
The tension came into view with the election of Southeast Side environmental activist Bautista to serve as second-in-command to board President Sean Harden. Both are Johnson appointees. Most elected members of the board rallied around one of their own, district parent and former CPS school leader Jessica Biggs — a pick that would have reflected the board’s new, more democratic makeup.
But they did not have enough votes as all appointees and three Chicago Teachers Union-endorsed elected members backed Bautista.
When the competing motions for vice president came in, state Sen. Robert Martwick, one of the architects of the school board legislation, who sat with an audience of about 100, smiled, put his fists up, and said quietly, “That’s exactly what I was hoping for.”
On Wednesday, the mayor said his office has met with “a number of individuals” — at one point smiling when he said that there have been some “interesting” candidates for the last appointed spot on the board. Asked why there is a delay, Johnson said the post is a “hard job,” and his team has been asking tough questions to ensure appointees “have what it takes.”
”I think it’s important that the people of Chicago recognize that we have to get this right,” he said.
In October, Johnson hastily appointed new board members after the previous board made up largely of the mayor’s appointees resigned rather than fire Martinez. Johnson’s pick for board president only lasted a week after antisemitic and misogynistic social media posts surfaced.
After taking the oath of office in a ragtag chorus, the new board members made brief remarks, recognizing the historic moment and vowing to keep students and families at the core of their decision-making.
To raucous applause and whoops from a packed audience, elected board member Che “Rhymefest” Smith, an artist and community activist, introduced himself and noted his many music awards and world travels.
But, he said, “The pinnacle of the beauty of my life is being elected by a community that sees fit to start a new era in education.”
He invoked the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King — the meeting coincided with his birthday — that education must help citizens distinguish “facts from fiction.”
A long line of public speakers welcomed the new board — and hastened to solicit its support.
“Good Lord, there are 21 people up here, and people were elected to be here,” said CTU President Stacy Davis Gates, her voice breaking with emotion.
She asked the new board to back the union’s outstanding demands in contentious negotiations with the district: more staffing, including a librarian in each school; more prep time for elementary school teachers; and changes to the district’s teacher evaluation system.
Numerous parents and educators from charter schools facing renewal asked the board for support. Some from the Acero charter school network thanked Johnson appointees who last month voted to keep six campuses open despite the network’s plans to shutter them.
A large delegation from Urban Prep asked the new board to approve a five-year renewal for their campuses, which CPS tried to close because of allegations of fiscal mismanagement and sexual misconduct by a former CEO.
Both the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and the CTU spent big on the November school board election, with overall spending hitting $7 million or more. Three candidates the charter network supported made it onto the board.
On Wednesday, Allison Jack of the network told board members it wants to partner with them and the CTU as it serves
This story was updated to correct the number of elected school board members who voted for Olga Bautista to serve as school board vice president.
Reporter Reema Amin contributed.
Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.
