Parents Push Good Governance

A new report from parent advocacy group Kids First Chicago advises the Chicago Board of Education on best governance practices and collaboration with parents, students, and the broader community. Much of their message aligns with the ad hoc training elected board members organized in December with help from the Academy for Local Leadership. When the board makes decisions, parents and students want to be partners, not spectators.

The report lays out a well-developed vision for governance, community engagement, board training and support, transparency, and relationship building--both among board members and with the community. I'll just note a few highlights that struck me, from both reading the report and a conversation I had with report author Lauren Burdette, who facilitated the six parent focus groups and the Mikva Challenge high school student focus group.

Governance: Kids First Chicago's recommendations for board subcommittees and their general push to refocus on improving the student experience closely align with the priorities I've heard from elected board members. To date, I've heard less directly from appointed board members, so I don't know as much about their thoughts on how to organize the board or whether they are in agreement about focusing the work on student outcomes. Two recommendations from the report that I haven't heard any board members discuss are conducting annual 360-degree evaluations of both the CEO and the board, and making an aggregate board evaluation public.

Engagement: The most striking recommendations in this section were: add parents to board subcommittees as non-voting but important advisory members, invite the Local School Council Advisory Board to advise the Board of Education directly, and ensure the Non-Citizen Advisory Board (required by state law) includes non-citizen students and has a majority of non-citizen parents. The Board of Ed should create regular cycles of connection with the non-citizen board, possibly including a monthly presentation at board meetings. Also, make the opportunity for public comment on proposed board policies more accessible!

Board Training & Support: Create a modest fund for board professional development. Current policy allows board members to be reimbursed for expenses related to their duties. In Denver, the board decides as a group what training opportunities they want to pursue, and a central fund from the district pays for the expense. This idea was controversial among parents given the current budget crisis in CPS, but there are examples of where it has worked well in other cities.

Transparency: Let parents know how their input was considered when policy decisions are made--circle back after the policy is established. Publish board votes. Related: a former board member I spoke with observed it's time for the Chicago Board of Education to shift away from voice votes to an electronic voting system like the one City Council uses.

Relationship-Building: Hold regular, closed-session retreats, ideally in communities, where business is not conducted but board members can talk informally and learn about neighborhoods across the city. Denver does this quarterly.

Beyond these recommendations for how the newly-seated board goes about its business, Kids First Chicago parents have a consistent agenda for changes to the board that they want state lawmakers to address: hard campaign spending limits for school board races, dedicated seats on the board for parents, allowing non-citizen parents to vote in school board elections, and compensation for board members.

VP Election Shows New Board's Fault Lines

Last week, board member Olga Bautista (10b) was elected vice president in a 12-7 vote. The vote signaled the split in the board between Johnson/CTU followers and more independent-minded, elected board members, though one, Jennifer Custer (1b) was elected with CTU support. Ellen Rosenfeld (4b) commented when casting her vote, “I’m voting for Jessica Biggs and wish I could tell you why.”

Expect to see more votes on contentious decisions fall along these lines in the future. Here’s how the VP vote shook out.

Johnson/CTU Allies, Mostly Appointed

Ed Bannon (1a)

Ebony DeBerry (2a, elected)

Debby Pope (2b)

Norma Rios-Sierra (3a)

Karen Zaccor (4a)

Jitu Brown (5a, elected)

Michilla Blaise (5b)

Anusha Thotakura (6a)

Emma Lozano (7a)

Yesenia Lopez (7b, elected)

Frank Niles Thomas (9a)

Olga Bautista (10b)

Independent-Minded Electeds

Jennifer Custer (1b)

Carlos Rivas (3b)

Ellen Rosenfeld (4b)

Jessica Biggs (6b)

Angel Gutierrez (8a)

Therese Boyle (9b)

Che “Rhymefest” Smith (10a)

Of note, board president Sean Harden will only vote to break ties. There will be no ties until a 21st member is appointed. Per state law, the president will only vote to break ties until the fully elected board is seated in 2027. 

The agenda for last week's meeting said the closed session would address personnel and legal matters, likely the December firing of CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. But the three-plus-hour session appears to have discussed contract negotiations. I say this because member Debby Pope recused herself from the discussion and stayed outside for the entire session.

Board Member News and More

A couple of items came my way via LinkedIn. Angel Gutierrez (8a) recently started a new job: deputy director of institutional advancement with Enlace Chicago.

Jessica Biggs (6b) shared a recently-published evaluation of her work at the Southwest Organizing Project, where she leads a community-organizing effort to build a system of care, including mental health and community supports, for young people and their families.

A possible new challenge for the board and the school district emerged yesterday when the Trump administration ended the longstanding, bipartisan policy of limiting immigration enforcement at or near "sensitive" locations: schools, churches, child care centers, hospitals, or other social service areas. In December, the interim board passed a resolution affirming the district's longstanding commitment to non-cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The district website includes a page of guidance and resources related to changes in federal policy.

One final note: next week's board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 30 at 10:30 a.m. You'll receive the next installment of Board Rule first thing Friday morning, Jan. 31, so you don't have to wait a week for the latest. We expect to have the board member trading cards ready to unveil by then, too.