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Chicago appears headed for an elected school board

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Illinois

* Greg Hinz yesterday…

Despite a last-minute plea from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the way now appears completely clear to final approval Wednesday of a bill to mandate a fully elected Chicago Board of Education.

Lightfoot met today via Zoom with members of the Illinois House Black Caucus and urged them to sidetrack the measure, which already has passed the Senate and is awaiting concurrence to an amendment in the House.

But the answer was no, though some changes the mayor wants may be included in a follow-up trailer bill later this year.

“I do believe we should be able to get the required number of votes and get this through tomorrow,” caucus Chairman Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, told me in a phone call. “I think the votes are there.”

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 10:29 am

Comments

I hope the meeting didn’t interrupt her tyrant, I mean office, time.

Comment by Shield Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 10:49 am
Not really my concern. And I always agreed with idea everyone else has elected board so why not Chicago. But then I saw all other boards serve without pay by state law will this be true of Chicago because I believe they are paid $40,000 now. Again a Chicago issue

Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 11:07 am
“Lightfoot met today via Zoom”

That’s some dedicated lobbying there…

Comment by NIU Grad Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 11:12 am
The weakest Chicago mayor in ages.

Comment by M Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 11:15 am
=== The weakest Chicago mayor in ages.===

That’s not at all true.

Lightfoot has the same powers and choices all mayors of recent memory had… Lightfoot is terribly bad at using the levers of governing, worse than all the recent predecessors… and her political choices and acumen have put her in “losing” positions that are hard to turn into winning positions, even with compromises or “taking wins when they’re given”

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 11:20 am
An elected school board - if it addresses high class sizes and pays down the District’s debt - will likely help stem the current flight of city dwellers with kids to the suburbs.

Comment by Katherine Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 11:23 am
OW - yes exactly. The unofficial powers of the office take time to develop by either influencing legislators or being able to legitimately threaten them. When you are unpopular this os difficult to do.

Comment by M Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 11:28 am
===That’s not at all true===

Chicago has a statutory “weak mayor” form of government. It’s up to the occupant to find a way to become a strong mayor.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 11:33 am
===…by either influencing legislators or being able to legitimately threaten them. When you are unpopular this os difficult to do.===

No. That’s not even what I said.

But, to that point… “Edgar/Daley” great example… governors > Mayors.

I wrote this too;

“ …the legislature and Governor are indeed more powerful than any mayor, and mayors who battle both the legislature and a governor… never win those battles, those mayors hope to limit the damage, in this case self-inflicted damage, to themselves. Lightfoot has limited (I’m being real generous) allies, and no where near 60/71, 30/36,… and not the governor it appears in this.”

There’s no leverage Lightfoot has.

Even holding her to that premise is disingenuous.

With respect.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 11:35 am
===Chicago has a statutory “weak mayor” form of government.===

True.

The premise was Lightfoot as the weakest mayor in comparison to predecessors.

It’s is always so politically interesting to see Daley and Rahm use the skills and acumen of the politics of the office to use the levers as efficiently as they could, in a strong position

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 11:38 am
Power is where power goes. There aint a lot on 5.

Comment by JP Altgeld Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 12:35 pm
To put a finer point on it…

MLL will be judged on two things in 2023:

1. Public Safety
2. Her perceived ability to manage

She won’t move the needle on 1 - she has totally ceded the field on that.

How she does on 2 is still up for grabs but these sorts of legislative blunders that will cost Chicago dearly militate in favor of her having continued major issues in this regard.

This, of course, all comes down to who runs. In Round 1 of the “new era” of mayoral elections (when RMD isn’t getting 87% lol), voters “elect”.

In Round 2, they “eliminate”. We saw that plain as day in 2019.

She is going to have a hard time succeeding at getting folks to “elect” her. But will they “eliminate” her?

Comment by JP Altgeld Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 12:42 pm
It often surprises even seasoned activists when I mention that Chicago has a “weak mayor” form of government. In some sort of meta way, I suppose I can appreciate Lightfoot’s term taking us that direction.

I also tend to think the “strong” mayors cover up the fact that aldermen rule their wards like monarchs with very little oversight or transparency. Maybe having a weak mayor for a while will wake everyone up to the need for changes there.

Comment by Watcher of the Skies Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 1:08 pm
===will wake everyone up===

My in-law uncle wants people to wake up too.

The system and organization of Chicago municipal government isn’t changing. What are folks waking to, an alderman who already runs the ward like a fiefdom? Live in the city for a month, you learn how powerful an alderman is.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 1:23 pm
=== MLL will be judged on two things in 2023: ===

Two things?

You forgot resident property tax bills.

Comment by ChicagoBars Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 1:35 pm
Re property taxes, this City has been beaten over the head by those so much that they don’t move the needle electorally anymore.

People will pay a premium to live in Chicago. They are more hesitant to do so when the schools fall apart and people are getting shot on LSD every other day.

Comment by JP Altgeld Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 1:41 pm
===property taxes, this City has been beaten over the head by those so much===

Please. Y’all don’t know about property taxes.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 1:42 pm
@RM

We most certainly do. And we pay them without the benefit of a steady revenue stream of royalties from Oscar’s celebrity.

Comment by JP Altgeld Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 1:58 pm
An elected school board for the City of Chicago is a mistake. Mayoral control does entail accountability. Prior to 1995, graduation rates were low, drop out rates were high, and school choice was not in existence. The main goal of mayoral control was to have accountability. Test scores, graduation rates, and surprise, surprise people deciding to stay in the city and send their kids to CPS schools. Since 2009, CTU has become THE predominant political power in the city for all practical purposes. CTU will control who is on the elected school board and they will control CPS (they do to large measure already given their political power). IS this a good thing for the city and the taxpayers? Only time will tell. In my opinion, Mayor Lightfoot committed to this on the campaign trail without fully understanding the implications. Now she looks like a fool.

Comment by Teve Demotte Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 2:06 pm
It’s refreshing when a political party refuses to allow one of their own (Lightfoot) to get away with going back on a campaign promise. It sets a healthy precedent.

Comment by anon2 Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 3:00 pm
The last mayor as weak as MLL was probably Martin Kennelly. Or if “weak” doesn’t sit well with you, how about least influential? At any rate, you gotta go back pretty far to find a mayor of Chicago as ineffective as her.

Comment by M Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 3:16 pm
*Hempstead Washburne has entered the chat*

Comment by JP Altgeld Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 3:34 pm
OW - I’m very aware of all that. My point is on the transparency front. I truly believe it’s possible to make the necessary changes to subject aldermen to the full force of FOIA. That would be a major improvement, as it’s a huge gap now.

Comment by Watcher of the Skies Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 4:54 pm
=== I truly believe it’s possible to make the necessary changes to subject aldermen to the full force of FOIA. That would be a major improvement, as it’s a huge gap now.===

Good luck with that. A “weak” mayor isn’t waking anyone up. The bickering is so loud, Lightfoot is sucking all the oxygen, along with pandemic reopening…

You know who has no problem with getting what they need to transparency? The Feds.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 5:05 pm
== Mayoral control does entail accountability. ==
Exactly correct. If you are upset with the schools you vote for a new mayor. With an elected board, do you vote against your board member? The mayor? Do you know who your board member is? Most people can’t tell you who their state rep or senator is. They’ll have the resources to find out who their CPS board member is? I tend to doubt it.

This definitely will not be the panacea many seem to think.

Comment by low level Wednesday, Jun 16, 21 @ 6:50 pm