Mayor Brandon Johnson will be the last to reshape the Chicago school board, as the city plans to transition next year from handpicked members to a board of elected representatives.
Johnson selected former or current educators and parents within the Chicago Public Schools system to serve on the city's Board of Education. The mayor, himself a former Chicago Teachers Union organizer and educator, announced on Wednesday that Jianan Shi, the executive director of the nonprofit Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education, would serve as head of the school board.
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The other handpicked members represent various areas of community activism and engagement, aligning with Johnson's campaign platform to restructure and improve the education system through comprehensive measures.
“This is an honor, privilege, and responsibility that I do not take lightly. … As stewards of the transition toward an elected school board, we have much to add to and change over the next year and a half,” newly-appointed school board president Shi said in a written statement per Chicago Tribune. “We will be advocates for more funding at every level and set up the future 21-seat school board for success.”
The Chicago Teachers Union and other affiliated teacher and parent groups overwhelmingly endorsed Johnson for the 2023 mayoral race — shunning Lightfoot, whose tenure was marred by clashes and arguments with Chicago Public Schools over funding and COVID-19 guidelines.
Johnson pledged on the campaign trail that he would approach education with a needs-based funding model, particularly improving funds to expand staffing and increase clinicians and counselors. Part of his school system reconstruction included expanding partnerships with city colleges and trade schools and improving under-enrolled schools to accommodate child care and health clinics, as well.
His appointments reflect his reconstruction plan — among the newly appointed Chicago board members are Tanya D. Woods, executive director of the nonprofit legal aid clinic the Westside Justice Center, and Michelle Morales, president of the Woods Fund Chicago and former associate director of the Alternative Schools Network.
Johnson is the last mayor of Chicago who will handpick the members moving forward. Illinois's largest school system, comprised of an enrollment of over 30,000 students, will first receive 10 elected members next year during the November 2024 election. They will be sworn into office in January 2025.
The other 10 seats, plus a president elected at large, will be chosen by Chicago voters in 2026. Lightfoot and Johnson were on opposite sides of the new board makeup — Lightfoot adamantly opposed the law, saying it was too large, while Johnson approved of the plan while working as a union organizer.
The boundaries of the 20 elected districts have not yet been drawn. State lawmakers extended their deadline to draw the new map from July 1, 2023, to April 1, 2024.
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The board and Johnson also face an uphill battle when it comes to the budget for Chicago Public Schools. The system is projected to have a $628 million budget shortfall in the 2025-2026 school year if the state does not produce more funding. For the 2023-2024 school year, CPS officials said the system would provide all district-managed schools an additional $150 million to increase spending per pupil for all students and target investments toward schools with the most need.
CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, the district’s first Latino superintendent, will remain in his role. The board does have approval over a replacement, should they decide to take that route. Martinez was appointed by Lightfoot in 2021 and is paid just over $350,000 under a contract expiring in 2026.