Illinois House passes plan to create hybrid elected Chicago school board next year
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Illinois House on Thursday passed legislation clearing the way for the shift to an elected school board in Chicago.
The vote comes a day after the Illinois Senate also approved the plan for Chicago's first elected school board. The measure now goes to Gov. JB Pritzker, who has said he'll sign it.
"I think the city of Chicago is doing the right thing. The Chicago Public Schools will be better led by people who are representative of the people, and not just appointed by the mayor," he said ahead of Thursday's vote in the Illinois House.
The legislation would create a hybrid school board this fall, and a fully-elected school board that would be seated in January 2027.
The Illinois Senate voted 37-20 on Tuesday to approve the proposal backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union. The House approved the legislation on a 75-31 vote on Thursday.
"With the passage of this legislation, we made history and we're charting a brighter future for generations to come," House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch (D-Hillside) said in a statement after Thursday's vote. "Today, we were able to keep our promise to allow every Chicagoan to have a say in their school board."
The plan received some push back from critics who claimed it's delaying the move to a fully-elected school board, further denying voters the opportunity to control the destiny of their schools until the next election year.
"If we're talking about we're going to get there in two years, let's do it now," said Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th).
The legislation is nearly identical to a 2021 law to create an elected school board for Chicago that had not yet gone into effect. It would create a 21-member board, starting with a hybrid board that would be seated next year.
The city would be divided into 10 districts, with one board member elected from each district in November, and the mayor appointing another member from each district. Johnson also would appoint a school board president. All 21 members would be seated in January 2025, and would serve two-year terms.
Each of the 10 school districts would be divided into two subdistricts. Both the elected member and the appointed member of each district would be required to live in a different subdistrict of their district.
In 2026, elections would be held for all 20 subdistricts, with a citywide election for the board president. Board members filling the expired term of a board member elected to their seat in 2024 would serve a 4-year term. Members filling the expired term of a board member appointed to their seat in 2024 would serve a 2-year term. The fully-elected board would be seated in January 2027.
Starting in 2032, board seats for each subdistrict would come up for election three times every 10 years; twice for 4-year terms and once for a 2-year term.
The full map of 20 districts would be made up of seven majority-Black districts, six majority-Latino districts, five majority-White districts, and two districts in which no racial or ethnic group has a majority.
Candidates for school board seats in this year's election can begin circulating nominating petitions on March 26.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed similar legislation in 2021, despite opposition from then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Last fall, Illinois Senate President Don Harmon introduced a plan to create a fully-elected school board starting with this year's election, but he backed down from that proposal after Johnson backed the plan to start with a hybrid board.
"The beauty of the legislative process is that there are often numerous ways to achieve a shared goal. Today's action by the Senate puts parents, families and taxpayers of Chicago on the threshold of finally getting a choice in who leads their schools – a right already afforded to every other community in Illinois," Harmon said in a statement.
The legislation also sets up ethics requirements and conflict of interest provisions for school board members that mirror the rules for other elected school districts in Illinois.