Candidate Q&A
Why are you running?
I personally want to be represented on the Chicago School Board by a parent whose children will feel the impact of the board’s decision. I want to be represented by someone who has experience creating the conditions for learning and can point to success increasing learning and opportunity at scale. I want to be represented by someone who is focused on ensuring we have excellent schools and is not someone who is just running while dreaming about another office. Ultimately I want a school board member who is focused on listening to all members of the community and who is personally committed to ensuring people are both heard and receive a response to their concerns. I think these are things that most of us want from our elected representative and they are things that I can deliver. This is why I am running and why I am the best candidate for District 10. In addition to expertise as an educator and professional degrees in leadership and policy, I have written and enacted policy that impacted thousands of youth. I have deep knowledge of arts education and have launched an arts-infused school and developed a model of arts-infused education adopted by schools across the country. I have also written about and developed practices for leadership entry that advances equity while empowering communities and system level improvement at scale.
Why are you the most qualified candidate?
As a fifth-generation Chicagoan and an almost 20 year resident of District 10, I am the only candidate who is a neighborhood school parent, a career educator, and a member of labor. I have experienced and successfully done almost every job within the education ecosystem and have empathy for everyone who enters our schools.
I am a proud, independent candidate who is not beholden to any special interest group and is on record calling former mayors, the CTU, district officials and other groups to account when their interests did not align with the needs of children. I have also worked hand-in-hand with each of these groups to advance excellence for young people. I have demonstrated a commitment to put my career on the line when it mattered for children.
Finally, I have deep experience in the areas our system most needs improvement: special education, multilingual instruction, arts education, early childhood, career & technical education, and increasing the Black educator pipeline.
What is the biggest issue facing your specific school board district?
Our district has the lowest percentage of high performing schools and the largest deferred maintenance required on school buildings (~$32 million per a school). We also have the least access to regional gifted, classical, academic centers and selective enrollment schools. We also have limited early childhood options that are affordable and accessible to families. District 10 needs to go from the bottom of the list to the top in terms of investment in order to address the legacy of inequity on the south side.
How has your district been impacted by the shuttering of CPS schools?
We are the epicenter of the harmful effects of the massive closure of schools. We are therefore the communities most in need of restoration and repair.
To address this harm we should look at building new integrated school communities in places where the current buildings are deteriorating and where student enrollment has decreased or families are selecting non-public options. We should identify neighborhoods that have experienced systemic disinvestment and rebuild new school options in partnership with other community resources. Ultimately, we must consider the participation of community members in the process and the demand from the local community for a new integrated or composite school. The local community should drive new school community creation and not have it done to them like it was previously.
How have your district’s schools been impacted by students who are new arrivals to the U.S. and how should CPS best accommodate those students and families?
In recent years we have seen a significant influx of new neighbors who have needs beyond what our schools were prepared to service. Many of our schools had few if any bilingual certified teachers. As a parent I organized school events to connect families with services beyond the school and built community across difference. We worked to house and feed new neighbors.
I was principal of a school where students spoke more than 35 languages and represented more than 75 nationalities. The diversity of our new neighbors is actually a multilingual asset of our city. At my school, we addressed the needs of our multilingual students by incentivizing all teachers to be endorsed to teach students with English as a Second Language and prioritizing hiring bilingual teachers. These are practices that can be adopted at scale.
In my experience, we can be more creative and flexible in how we support multilingual learners. We need to design programs based upon what each kid needs instead of how we have labeled their “problem.” This should include partnering with families, community organizations, and our own students to help address learning needs in ways that are both innovative and compliant with relevant laws.
How do you believe the school board should handle the looming fiscal crisis at Chicago Public Schools?
I believe we have to live within our means as a city while prioritizing our most important resource- our children. This means that we need to consider budget cuts that focus on shrinking central office while protecting the core of teachers, students, and curriculum. We need to address TIF funding to maximize school dollars. I also think we can be creative and generate revenue/reduce expenses through community schools that are open in partnership with the park district, public libraries, health centers, and non-profit organizations. An independent audit can help us identify how best to make these decisions and ensure we are working from the same data and evidence in a transparent way.
Borrowing is not an option for our city as it will bankrupt our future.
A moratorium on closing CPS schools is set to expire in January. Should CPS consolidate more schools?
No
What is your position on closing selective enrollment schools?
I can’t comprehend stopping something that is working for many families. Our focus should be on supporting schools that have yet to meet the needs of their students. Closing selective enrollment schools is a distraction from the real work this board must accomplish.
What is your position on charter schools?
While it needs to be strengthened and made more equitable, our system of choice is an asset. Kids are different and having multiple choices of schools means that all schools are not set up for failure trying to be all things to all young people. I am less interested in debating the merits of any type of school than ensuring that all kids have options and that all schools are excellent at what they do. There is no difference in the role of any of these ‘types’ of schools. Their role is to meet the needs of the learners who walk through their doors. The role of the board is to ensure schools are doing right by kids, families, and educators.
I am not in favor of expanding charters, but there are current charter schools that the families who attend them greatly value. I do not believe it is my role as a board member to tell parents they are wrong. If we want fewer charters we should make our neighborhood schools so successful that families and knocking down doors to get in.
Is your campaign being supported by the Chicago Teachers Union?
No
The Chicago Teachers Union wants the district to focus on retrofitting schools with equipment that will battle the effects of climate change. Is spending money that way right now a good idea with the massive deficit the district faces?
Yes to the degree that these investments will help us save costs in the future and prepare our buildings to be better vehicles for 22nd century education.
What is your biggest priority and what do you hope to accomplish on the Chicago Board of Education?
I would like to leave a board that proves all of our skeptics wrong. I want to leave a board that shows 21 people can work together and put the interests of kids over the interests of adults. That we can do right and tackle our disagreements by focusing on what we have in common. I want to leave a school system that is best-in-class and has addressed the budget challenged dumped on us by previous generations.