CPS Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova, the district’s second highest ranking leader, told reporters Thursday that the two sides remain “significantly” far apart at a time when CPS is facing a financial crisis.
Chicago Board of Education
The Chicago Board of Education is in the midst of massive change. Residents just voted in 10 members of the city’s first elected school board.
The six-member board on Thursday unanimously approved a measure demanding Acero return any unspent public funding if it moves ahead with the closures at the end of the current school year.
The board is set to meet outside of its typical monthly schedule Thursday in a special meeting where it will take up only a small handful of matters, including a resolution to maintain the seven charter schools Acero plans to close.
Therese Boyle and Che “Rhymefest” Smith won their races for the Chicago Board of Education, according to the Associated Press.
The results of the hard-fought and expensive races will usher in a new era for the 325,000 students who attend Chicago Public Schools — and serve as a referendum on the leadership of Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former teacher, and the Chicago Teachers Union.
Amid ongoing turmoil, Chicago’s Board of Education on Friday pushed ahead with its first meeting in more than five weeks — one day after president Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson became the eighth person to resign from the seven-member board in the last calendar month.
Chicago Board of Education President Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson resigned under pressure Thursday after a series of antisemitic, misogynistic and conspiratorial social media posts generated a wave of outrage that stretched from the Chicago City Council to Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The seven new board members, appointed by Johnson earlier this month, were sworn in during Thursday’s agenda review committee meeting. CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, who was also present at Thursday’s meeting, has seen questions swirl about his continued employment with the school district.
Rafael Yáñez, who ran unsuccessfully to represent the 15th Ward on the Chicago City Council in 2015 and 2019, is set to join the board.
The board’s monthly meeting, which had been scheduled for Oct. 24, is no longer set to be held and a makeup date has not yet been announced.
The board’s monthly agenda review committee meeting, which had been scheduled for Wednesday morning, will not be held as planned, Chicago Public Schools announced over the weekend.
“As someone that represents Chicago, it seemed irresponsible to completely overhaul the makeup of the board just months before the election,” state Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago) told WTTW News.
The mayor announced his new picks for the board amid a tumultuous time between Johnson and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, who said he rejected the mayor’s request that he resign his position.
Board president Jianan Shi, Vice President Elizabeth Todd-Breland and fellow members Mariela Estrada, Mary Fahey Hughes, Rudy Lozano, Michelle Morales and Tanya Woods plan to step down from their positions this month.
Voters in the Nov. 5 election will pick a member to represent each of 10 new districts as the board triples in size from its current size of seven up to 21 members beginning in January 2025.
