After several months of disagreement between Mayor Brandon Johnson and the district over a budget crisis that is straining one of the largest districts in the nation, the public got its first look at seven new Chicago Board of Education members as they were sworn in Thursday morning.
The speakers took a few minutes to introduce themselves and share what it meant to be on the board, some getting emotional, and expressing their alignment with the mayor’s vision for public education in the city.
Johnson is the only mayor in the history of the city to send his kids to Chicago Public Schools, said the Rev. Mitchell Johnson, the newly sworn-in board president.
“I’m not suggesting that mayors who don’t send their children to CPS don’t care. But I am suggesting that you know where a man’s heart is, where he places his treasure,” said Rev. Johnson. “We look forward to your assistance as we, your board members, work to make this system the best it can be.”
The purpose of Thursday’s meeting was to appoint the hand-picked board members officially and review potential items to be considered by the board on Nov. 1. Still, underlying tensions simmered over the biggest elephant in the room: whether the new board will vote to fire CPS Chief Executive Officer Pedro Martinez and approve a contentious loan.
The mayor has pressured the district to consider a $300 million loan to cover its large expenses. He’s tried to oust Martinez for not agreeing to the loan. And this month, the entire board resigned instead of deciding on the fate of the schools’ chief.
Johnson announced six new appointees a few days later, and a seventh earlier this week.
The new members are: the Rev. Johnson, Olga Bautista, Michilla Blaise, Mary Gardner, Deborah “Debby” Pope, Frank Niles Thomas and — most recently — Rafael Yañez, a hate crimes investigator at the Chicago Police Department. They all have or have had children in CPS.
Blaise, a longtime political consultant, thanked the previous board members who resigned earlier this month and said the newly sworn-in members plan to continue their work.
“They were visiting schools. They were checking in with stakeholders. They were doing their best,” she said. “This board is so important. The work that we do here is so important.”
Bautista, co-executive director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force, said she came to the meeting Thursday morning with “a heavy heart,” mourning a student who died from an asthma attack at Henry Clay Elementary School on the South Side. The student was a triplet who lived in an industrial corridor, she said.
“I was thinking about her and her family and all of the students at CPS,” she said. “There is joy in these schools. And especially in times like what we are experiencing right now, that is also a commitment that I need CPS to make, to ensure that it is an enjoyable experience for all.”
The mayor’s office has had sole authority for decades to appoint CPS board members, though the board is transitioning this year to a “hybrid” model that is part-elected and part-appointed.
Currently, Chicago is the only school district in Illinois without an elected board. But that will change in November when Chicagoans will cast their votes for the first time for 10 members of the soon-to-be 21-member board.
Despite heartfelt speeches Thursday morning, based on rules that the elected and the appointed member must live on different sides of each voting district, it is unclear how many of the newly appointed board members will stay on after November — depending on where each newly appointed member lives.
After people cast their votes, Johnson will appoint 11 members including the president. The new board will meet for the first time in January.
