InFocus: Debby Pope

Debby Pope has been fighting for a better world since her student days at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she spent more time protesting against the Vietnam War and for women’s rights than attending class. 

But she never let go of her dream to become a high school history teacher. A few years after Madison, she quit an inflexible job on the railroad and took up cab driving while finishing her degree at Roosevelt University. “I drove a cab at night and went to Roosevelt during the day,” she said. “I would not say it’s a job for the weak.” After a career pivot into the federal government, she sent her resume to every high school principal in Chicago Public Schools. She landed a bilingual history teacher job at Juarez, though she had only studied Spanish for six weeks in Mexico at that time. She later taught at Schurz and Gage Park.

As a member of the superintendent search team, Pope eagerly shared her thoughts on the decision to hire Macquline King. "The Dr. King who came in as interim has grown and developed and learned so much," Pope said, pointing to King's willingness to back off her initial plan to reorganize the CPS networks. "When she immediately announced a plan to do a changeover, [I thought] maybe she needs to talk to people first, listen more, get some feedback from the stakeholders. And she quickly figured that out and pulled back from that and worked on developing her relationships with the networks and with the principals." Pope also described King as a good listener.

With fellow board member Therese Boyle, Pope co-chairs the board's special education committee. They are just wrapping up the selection process, whittling down 115 applicants into 13 committee members. "I'm eager for us to get to work," Pope said.

Priorities: "That the ASPIRA students are settled and able to graduate in a timely fashion with their credits. I mean, what a terrible thing to have your school dissolve on you near the end of the year, especially for seniors."

"I also want to build statewide alliances to work on funding issues. I don't want it to be Chicago versus the rest of the state. We have a lot of very low-income rural districts and small cities and towns throughout Illinois that also have, you know, some pretty significant needs. So I think working on building a statewide coalition of school boards, school officials, teachers, and unions, etc., I think would be really important."

"I'd like to see us be able to maintain ChiArts as the beautiful flagship arts school that it is, but I'd like to see us figure out a way that that can be done not at the expense of the neighborhood schools and their arts programs. All of this involves funding. If we had adequate funding, there are so many wonderful things we could be doing."

Soundbite: "I am very committed to equity in our schools. At Gage Park, I had to buy my own copier. Our library was being cut, while my daughters at Whitney Young had a choice of all different kinds of fabulous enrichment courses, many different science and language courses to pick from. We need to focus on making our neighborhood schools into wonderful institutions that people will be happy to send their children to."

Today's Agenda Review Committee Meeting

At the top of today’s agenda: choosing a new board vice president to replace Olga Bautista, who resigned in early March. The agenda also picks up the resolution opposing federal tax-credit scholarships that was tabled at the March special board meeting.

Of note: in March, Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison (17) sponsored a resolution urging Gov. JB Pritzker to opt in to the federal program. The resolution is currently in committee. Meanwhile, state Sen. Graciela Guzman has introduced a bill to prevent Illinois from participating. [A previous version of this newsletter incorrectly stated that the Cook County Board had passed the resolution. Board Rule regrets the error.]

After votes on the board vice president and the resolution on tax-credit scholarships, the board will discuss items to be voted on at its April meeting. Here are a few.

Professional development. The board will discuss renewing contracts with 60 professional development providers, ranging from national companies like Amplify and Edmentum to local providers like Embarc and the Chicago Literacy Group. Schools, networks, and central office departments may contract with any of these pre-qualified providers. The total amount contracted is not to exceed $20 million by the end of the 2028 fiscal year.

Youth Connection Charter School Changes. The board will review proposed changes to two of Youth Connection Charter School's campuses. YCCS alternative schools serve students ages 16-21. The proposed changes are:

Closing the ASPIRA Antonia Pantoja campus at 3121 N. Pulaski, effective July 26. For the closure to happen, the YCCS board must vote by April 24 to allow the campus to self-close. It must also prepare and disseminate transition plans for all current students by May 1, including guaranteed seats for all Pantoja students at other YCCS campuses. Should YCCS fail to meet these requirements, the charter must keep the Pantoja campus open until the end of the 2026-27 school year.

Moving the YCCS Chatham Academy from 9035 S. Langley in Chatham to 4017 S. Drexel in Bronzeville.

Update to Non-Discrimination Policy. The board is considering approving language to include immigration status as a category protected from discrimination. The updated policy would expressly forbid denying children their right to a free and appropriate public education based on their actual or perceived immigration status, or that of their parents. The policy also directs the Office of School Safety and Security to develop procedures to review and authorize law enforcement requests to enter school buildings.

New Name for Marine Leadership Academy. The Logan Square school, which was the site of a major sex abuse scandal first revealed in 2021, will be renamed Military Leadership Academy. Four community meetings and a June 2025 meeting of the school's Board of Governors backed the change.

Acero Update. The five Acero campuses that will officially become CPS-managed schools starting next fall are to be added to the master lease between the school district and the Archdiocese of Chicago. According to a March meeting of the transition team for Cisneros, boiler replacement has been scheduled for July 2027.

Green Schools/Solar Update. Ten vendors are being considered for pre-qualification status to provide schools with solar and battery systems, whether rooftop, ground-mounted or solar carport canopy systems. Total contracts are not to exceed $20 million by June 2029.

Public Participation: Watch for speakers from Haugan Elementary to discuss the latest turns in the continuing conflict between Haugan and North River Elementary over access to the vacant third-floor space in the building North River currently occupies, 3729 W. Leland. An Albany Park parent group, Unite for Our Schools, has challenged the results of the Local School Council elections at North River, alleging that Principal Jaime Sanchez intimidated voters.

Candidate Updates

On Monday, Jessica Biggs formally announced her candidacy for school board president. She’ll be holding a campaign launch event on April 16.

Isaiah White has launched his candidacy to represent District 6A. In the March primary, White ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for Cook County Board’s 12th District. An elementary school teacher, White told the Chicago Tribune he ran to bring a “moderate, pragmatic perspective” to the county board. He is now challenging District 6A’s incumbent board member, Anusha Thotakura.