Candidate Q&A
Why are you running?
I am running to be part of a team that pushes for the full state funding that is owed rather than austerity practices that harm low-income and Black and brown communities, that advocates for robust and authentic parent and student voice in all aspects of school life, and that seeks to enact a transformative vision of a system that is equitable not just in words but in reality, built on the model of Sustainable Community Schools as we dreamed it. This is the pathway to achieve what parents told us they wanted as we fought for the Elected Representative School Board: well-resourced, high quality schools in their neighborhood that their children can walk to.
Are you in support of the most recent CPS budget that relies on uncommitted state funding?
The budget this year was the second time in our tenure on the board that the district started by making cuts and did not put forth a strong effort to engage Springfield or even present a legislative agenda. I have principals in my district cleaning in their schools because of custodian cuts from the previous budget, and concerned over their ability to deliver quality education because of the cuts to classrooms in this budget. We are in a spiral where funding adequacy is declining and cuts are increasing. If we institutionalize the cuts originally made this past spring to balance the budget, next year will be even worse and that is unacceptable.
The fifth wealthiest state should not be funding education at only 25% while the national average is 45%, especially when $1B in progressive revenue has been passed but not earmarked and potentially $4B in already drafted bills could be passed in veto. So I do support the budget demand for $150M more from Springfield and believe that with a united front we can achieve it.
How will you work with CPS officials and staff to balance the district’s budget?
Regardless of people’s stance on the budget amendment, there is broad agreement that Springfield has to step up and pay more to fulfill their own Evidence Based Funding formula because paying the minimum each year is causing CPS and 70% of districts around the state to fall increasingly far behind in adequacy. Rather than meeting the target date of 2027 to reach 90% adequacy, we are now looking at something more like 2040, meaning today’s kindergartners will have graduated from continuously underfunded schools.
Legislators need to hear a strong united message from their voters. That means building a collective effort between CPS, the mayor’s office, union partners, community based organizations, the business community, parents, and districts around the state to deliver that shared message. I have reached out to legislators with information on how schools in their district were being impacted by cuts, and I have worked with colleagues to reach out to community organizations and some board members in other districts in furtherance of this goal, and will continue to do so.
Other than the budget, what is the single biggest issue facing Chicago Public Schools?
Student performance needs to improve. I view that as an equity issue. I have schools in my district that are top performers. They also have few low income children, smaller number of students with IEPs, and few English language learners compared to some of my other schools where 65-80% are low income, and high percentages are either students with IEPs or English language learners or both. Clearly the needs of these schools are very different. And while we can provide more professional development and ensure high quality curriculum, that doesn’t change the challenge of so many needs in one classroom.
So in terms of programming, we should emphasize early intervention, we should rethink the use of ed tech programs that have never been peer reviewed, and instead encourage more reading and making meaning together from complete texts, more writing, and a conceptual approach to math. But we also need to provide sufficient resources to support teachers so they in turn can support students who are dealing with various challenges that get in the way of focusing on learning.
What is a top issue for students, schools and families in your specific school board voting district?
I do a lot of outreach to parents and I have also met with student groups in all of my schools. From parents, what I hear most often is a desire for schools to have after school programming that goes till 6 p.m. They need their children to be in a place all day that is safe, nurturing, and focused on developing the whole child. As cuts are made and more discretionary money goes to filling personnel needs, less is available for comprehensive after school programming.
Some schools provide programs that parents pay for, but not all communities can manage that. From students, what I hear most often is that they want better food. When I was in the classroom, my high school students mostly didn’t eat lunch or ate hot chips–either way, they were not prepared for learning in the afternoon. Currently, over 40% of students don’t eat school lunch, which is over 100,000 students. Nutritious food that students will eat is directly correlated with better academic performance and will also help with attendance. The food contract is up next year, and this is an opportunity to demand better of our vendors or find new ones.
If you accept campaign contributions from special interest groups, how will you maintain independence from those donors?
The donors I accept funds from share my goals and values. They are mostly friends, community supporters, and organizations I have worked with that endorse me. Some people regard CTU as a special interest, but CTU is the union representing the teachers who work with our children every day. They fight for the common good, meaning social workers, counselors, librarians, arts teachers, smaller class size, Sustainable Community Schools, and more, and I support those things. Teachers are intimately involved with our schools and knowledgeable about their needs.
I won’t accept money from billionaires, who have no involvement in CPS and whose interests stem from a profit motive, or the entities they fund such as Common Ground Collective. I won’t accept money from entities whose agenda I disagree with, such as privatizer groups like Urban Center Action. I won’t accept money from corporate moguls that oppose unions for their employees. Those are the kinds of special interests I think the public should be concerned about.
How can current board policies and procedures be improved?
I am looking forward to having committees, which hopefully will give us an opportunity for more public discussion of topics the public has an interest in. So much of what has come before the board are contracts that are part of the general way business is done in CPS. We hear a lot about them and may ask questions but they are going to move forward so that CPS can keep going. It makes it hard for the public to get focused discussion of the topics most relevant to them.
This new structure should help with that. It would also be helpful to have information about topics more ahead of time and a little more descriptive information so the public could weigh in on them at board meetings or in written comment. One of the things parents told us they wanted as we fought for the elected representative school board was more transparency and a board that listened to parents. It is challenging to keep our constituents informed when we barely get the information ahead of time ourselves.
How should CPS and the board work to address declining enrollment?
Actually, enrollment of Asian, white, and multiracial students is constant or increasing. It is enrollment of Black students that has particularly plummeted, due to an exodus of Black families who have seen decades of disinvestment and school closures in their communities. Families need to know they and their community are valued. They need to see investment. They need their schools to look like the district cares about them and is not going to continue letting them languish in disrepair.
It’s an easy excuse to say the district does not have the money so we can’t afford equity for disinvested schools in the Black community, but that answer is unacceptable. Supporting schools that have historically not been supported is another reason to demand the money Springfield owes CPS. Some board members in those districts are already partnering with parents and community organizations to figure out a plan for how to reimagine schools with low enrollment. That collaborative approach to how to improve enrollment should be given an opportunity to succeed.
Do you foresee a need to close some district schools?
Closing 50 schools did not save a significant amount of money: about $25M a year. Similar small savings from school closings have been documented elsewhere. The school closings in 2013 caused harm to students, who lost ½ a year to a year of learning and in some cases never returned to school at all. They caused harm to communities, where violence increased and families were constantly reminded of how the district did not value them whenever they passed by the abandoned buildings.
The closings are another driver pushing Black families out of Chicago, which is costing the district money. Today, as then, when people talk about closing schools they are talking about closing schools in the Black community where underenrollment is most severe. They are talking about adding to the harm that has already been caused. And there is evidence that investment can turn things around. Dyett High School went from 15 students to 500 when CPS invested and the same can happen elsewhere.
Should CPS implement AI in its classrooms? What, if any, guardrails should be put in place?
There is currently no evidence that using generative AI in the classroom helps with cognitive development and substantial evidence that it does the opposite. I have talked with college professors who say students are coming in lacking cognitive skills, lacking writing skills, and increasingly dependent on AI to complete assignments. CPS has completely inadequate guardrails: students are increasingly using AI to cheat in high school and middle school. CPS does not have adequate curriculum teaching students how to vet sources generally, let alone how to vet AI information.
I support a moratorium on AI use, during which a comprehensive program is developed to teach students about how and when to use AI productively as well as an understanding of AI bias and hallucinations. We also need to have protections against harm to student mental health and inappropriate capture of student data. Pushing AI into schools is about making money for tech companies, not about providing a benefit to students, and we should proceed with caution given the great potential for harm.
The board currently includes one Honorary Student Member. As the board has recently tripled in size, should that number be expanded?
I am strongly in favor of students having more voice in district decisions. However, that is not the current role of the student board member and they do not have voting power, nor are they privy to the materials the rest of the board members receive. Last year, Honorary Student Board Member Singleton convened a series of student roundtables on a topic she identified as important, mental health. And then she presented the findings from the roundtables, which led to a resolution.
She did a great job, and it is not clear to me how having more students on the board would have made a difference, unless we expand the role. But expanding the role runs into the prospect of interfering with students’ school life, which would be problematic. Additionally, the student board member is chosen by board staff and the board president, not by students. So having more students on the board chosen in a manner that does not give students a voice in their selection does not seem to me to be desirable. I would say that the first step in empowering students is to craft a way for them to select the honorary school board member.
How will you be responsive to student-led issues?
Students are important stakeholders and we need to listen to them. I have met with students in my schools to hear their concerns. There is variation, but some things have stood out: students want better food, nicer bathrooms, and a healing focused mental health protocol. I have tried to take some sort of action on each one. The food contract is up next year. We can demand better from current companies or find another company. It’s very expensive to rehab bathrooms and CPS has a list for the work they do each year.
So I am working on a pilot project to paint murals on bathroom walls so that at least they look nicer. Several board members have been meeting with a student group that has come up with ideas about how to improve mental health protocols to be more healing oriented. I will continue to support the students as they decide how they want to promote their ideas. This school year I will again be meeting with students at my schools and also working with groups like Mikva Challenge to see if we can design some way for students to have greater input into district policy making.
Did you attend Chicago Public Schools? When/Where?
I attended public schools, but did not live in Chicago growing up.
Have you sent your children to Chicago Public Schools?
Yes, preK-12
Have you ever served on a Local School Council? When/Where?
Yes. Stockton Elementary School LSC chairperson 1989-1992, Joan Arai Middle School parent representative 1993-1995, Uplift Community High School teacher representative various years between 2005-2022.
Have you ever worked for Chicago Public Schools?
Yes, I was a teacher from 1995-2024, when I retired.
What neighborhood do you live in?
Uptown