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* UPDATED x1 * Mayor Johnson says he supports half-appointed school board plan, CTU President says she’s still ‘trying to understand’ Harmon’s plan

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* Background on the Chicago elected school board bill is here. Let’s also go back to a Sun-Times report in 2021…

“Our mayor [Lightfoot] has misled us on a number of issues: Lincoln Yards, Hilco, Anjanette Young, No Cop Academy. Her shift on the elected, representative school board is consistent with other misleading actions,” Davis Gates said.

To “exalt mayoral control in a post-Trump America is the wrong direction” for Democrats, Davis Gates said.

“Democrats should be prioritizing and amplifying democracy. … An elected school board is about democracy … for Chicagoans. One would even say that it is a voting rights issue. This is a district that serves predominantly students of color. Why shouldn’t their parents have an opportunity to take a vote for the futures of their neighborhoods, their schools and their children?” she said.

* Sun-Times in February…

[Mayoral candidate Brandon] Johnson, in fact, has a long list of what he says are Lightfoot’s broken promises to progressive voters. […]

“It’s not a surprise to me that she broke those promises because she never believed them from the beginning,” he said.

Johnson, an organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, cited the mayor’s about-face on an elected Chicago Public Schools board as one of her broken progressive promises.

* WBEZ yesterday afternoon…

Jen Johnson, deputy mayor of education under Brandon Johnson, said the mayor wants to stick with starting with a hybrid [half elected, half appointed] board as laid out in the law. She said, as an organizer for the CTU, the mayor worked to pass the law, which took a lot of advocacy, pressure and compromise.

“Interjecting change at this stage is not super helpful,” she said.

In an interview, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said the union isn’t opposed to all members being elected next year, but Harmon needs to answer how he thinks that’s now possible when he previously argued it would be too complicated.

“The Senate president dropped this on everyone’s head without the benefit of stakeholder input or even understanding,” Davis Gates said. “So, no, the implications of this haven’t been weighed yet. We’re still trying to understand what just happened.”

“What just happened” is that Harmon gave the CTU everything it asked for at a public hearing during which the CTU lobbyist said there could be a lawsuit filed over equal representation.

*** UPDATE *** From Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago), who sponsored the House’s hybrid bill…

The missing piece in the conversation about the elected school board bill is that everyone - including the Senate (at least until Tuesday evening) - presumed we were working from the initially hybrid structure put into place in the 2021 bill. (The hybrid board for the first two years before going to a fully elected board in 2026.)

That was my understanding and why the House proposal was developed - to ensure everyone got the ability to vote in year one while still utilizing the (heavily negotiated) structure from the 2021 agreed bill.

We first heard about the Senate proposal to open up the agreement, scrap the transition period and go to a fully elected board late Tuesday. With only a few days left in the veto session, there wasn’t time to fully evaluate if this could be put together in time for an election less than a year away without negatively impacting the stability of Chicago public schools.

I have been a strong supporter of a fully elected board for many years; if the proposal to revisit the agreed initial hybrid structure had been proposed a year or even six months ago, it would’ve been a different story. But to abruptly switch gears at the 11th hour gave me pause. This is really really important for Chicago and we need to get it right.

If we can identify an approach which will get us there faster in a way that provides for an equitable and representative board, while ensuring a smooth transition, of course it will be considered.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 10:09 am

Comments

Maybe Stacy Davis Gates and CTU should stay after class to get tutoring help

Comment by low level Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 10:15 am
Be careful in what you ask for because sometime you just might get it.

Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 10:22 am
Let’s just have an election in line with Harmon’s idea.
We may not see any change in CPS with an election, but with this Mayor appointing half the Board I know we won’t see any positive changes.
Perhaps the voters will take a bigger interest in education and elect candidates that genuinely want to improve CPS.

Comment by Back to the Future Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 10:23 am
I don’t see how Harmon has any incentive to work with CTU in good faith ever again. He gave them what they wanted, just to have them turn around and criticize him for it.

Comment by NIU Grad Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 10:34 am
===ever again===

Politics and legislating don’t work that way.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 10:35 am
Johnson and SDG are the dogs that finally caught the car. They have no idea as to what to do. I’m foreseeing an elected school board where white & Asian board members work with Latinx members to get rid of Selective Enrollment tiers and close schools under 15% enrollment, as well as CTU accountability.

Comment by 19th Ward Anon Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 10:44 am
The comment - The Senate president dropped this on everyone’s head without the benefit of stakeholder input….

Actually the stakeholders gave their input and their preferred choice then received the outcome they asked for.

What is so complicated about that? Or is it just world salad for the masses because now they have to spend money for 20 elected positions instead of 10? Plus they’re playing in primaries now and have not refilled coffers from mayoral race even with the extra dues they tacked on during the mayoral campaign.

Comment by Frida’s boss Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 10:51 am
@19th Ward

Yes, because being antagonistic towards the CTU has worked sooooo well for the last two mayors.

Elections have, as they say, consequences.

Comment by ChrisB Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 10:58 am
===I’m foreseeing===

Too early to be doing that many mushrooms.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 11:05 am
CTU 2021 - “We want all members of the school board elected”

CTU Now - “Wait. Now that we have a committed progressive as mayor, uhm, we think he should appoint half. Can’t have those pesky parents picking non-progressive board members that aren’t in our pocket.”

Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 11:13 am
Then …
What do we want? An elected Chicago school board.
When do we want it? Now.

Now …
What do we want? A hybrid board that appoints some and elects others.
When do we want it? Phased in over the next few years.

Comment by Now v Then (et al) Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 11:21 am
@Rich What do you prognosticate happening with a fully elected CPS Board?

Comment by 19th Ward Anon Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 11:21 am
The flip-flopping isn’t the only example of CTU’s guile on the elected school board. Don’t forget the watered-down ethics provisions that somehow ended up in the bill the House moved last week. Kinda hung their House supporters out to dry. They had to run a “clean-up” trailer the next day.

Comment by Tony T. Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 11:23 am
===What do you prognosticate happening===

I’m smart enough to wait and see what the law will be and polling shows before jumping into that, but I know enough to know you’re projecting your own beliefs/hopes on an entire city. Show me some data first.

This ain’t a sophomore college dorm.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 11:23 am
Also, either stop posting from different IP addresses every time you comment or you’re gonna get banned.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 11:26 am
Harmon actually made it a bit more complicated than it needed to be.

I understand the desire for some continuity. And I have no problem diving the seats into thirds, determined by lottery.

But he should have simplified it by having the initial term 2, 4, or 6 years … with all subsequent terms 4 years.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 1:11 pm
== What do you prognosticate happening ==

I predict politics will make for some strange bed fellows.

Given demographic trends, I’m probably not too far out on a limb predicting Latinos will eventually be the core group in say, 10 or 20 years … could be sooner.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 1:22 pm
== the mayor wants to stick with starting with a hybrid [half elected, half appointed] board … ==

Translation: the mayor has some political IOU’s he needs to pay … and can’t with a fully elected board.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 1:25 pm
===But he should have simplified it ===

The CTU specifically asked for exactly what Harmon put in his bill. There’s just no excuse here.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 1:38 pm
– But he should have simplified it by having the initial term 2, 4, or 6 years … with all subsequent terms 4 years. –

The initial “elect them all” plan in the Senate did exactly this. Staggered 2 and 4 year terms out of the gate. The criticism in response was that because there’s no primary in 2024, you could have someone in a crowded race, win with something like … 25 percent (or less) … and serve a 4 year term.
The solution was to have everyone run for a 2 year term next year and then start the primaries and staggers in 2026.
Problem presented, solution filed. The wonders of the legislative process.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 1:51 pm
To me, the question isn’t what bill the Senate President should have put forward. The question is, should he have listened to stakeholders like CTU.

That’s what makes all criticism of his action uniquely silly. Because he answered that question with yes. Everything flows from that logic.

What makes this equally silly is CTU cannot stand and say the quiet part out loud: we aren’t principled; we want elections and appointments to go our way. Had they not made a principled argument for elections on grounds of democratic values, then their time to “understand” what Harmon is doing wouldn’t fall so flat.

Had they instead argued for direct input at the behest of voters, they now wouldn’t need to be born again conservatives calling for a phased in approach.

Lastly, to the sponsor of the legislation, the sunk cost fallacy never plays well for me. Just because we worked hard and long on something doesn’t mean we can throw it out for something better. Believe me, if I’m negotiating to buy a house at a framework around $200,000.00 for 6 months and I lament I wish I could buy it for $1.00, then out of nowhere the seller says, “hey, you can have it for exactly $1.00,” then you better believe I’m not going to insist on the 200k just because we’ve been haggling for 6 months.

At some point, someone should just call the Senate President and thank him for standing up for democracy.

Comment by MG85 Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 3:49 pm
The Senate version is very straight forward and clear, and allows for every citizen to vote for the candidate of choice, and for every qualified candidate to run, regardless of his/her subdistrict.

The House version provides for 10 districts, each with 2 subdistricts. If I understood what I read correctly, the appointee and elected representative will each represent the larger district in 2024. If you live in the same subdistrict as an appointee, you cannot run in 2024, even if you are running to represent the larger district and not your subdistrict. Candidates who live in half the subdistricts of the City would have to wait until 2026 to run, despite the fact that those 20 subdistricts won’t fully replace the 10 districts until 2026.

The law passed in 2021 did not prevent anyone from running who happened to live in the same district as an appointee.

Comment by Valerie F. Leonard Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 5:30 pm
-an election less than a year away without negatively impacting the stability of Chicago public schools.- Rep Williams

Nothing about a fully elected school board will negatively affect any CPS school anymore than changing from appointed to elected already will do. That’s more word salad because someone got a call from CTU saying wait we don’t have the bandwidth to do 20 seats.

If you’re claiming a fully elected school board will negatively impact schools please show your work. There’s more than enough time to implement. Districts boundaries are already set.

Comment by Frida’s boss Thursday, Nov 16, 23 @ 5:38 pm