Elected School Board referendum wins by a landslide in 37 wards
Elected School Board referendum wins by a landslide in 37 wards
Chicagoans’ preference for an elected board will continue to be pushed in Springfield
CHICAGO – Today an overwhelming number of voters in 37 wards across Chicago voted yes to an elected school board (totals below), signaling a vote of no confidence in the past twenty years of failed school reforms by mayor-appointed board members. Voters made clear that the appointed members have not made the grade and going forward a democratic process must be used to keep school board members accountable, like every other district in the Illinois. 97% of school boards in the United States are elected. The next move for the Campaign for an Elected, Representative School Board is to bring these vote totals to Springfield and push state legislators to change the law allowing Chicago taxpayers to vote for the people running Chicago’s schools.
The referendum appeared on the ballot after a month-long canvassing and petition drive by thousands of volunteers across the city. The elected school board measure is being pushed by a broad coalition of parents, teachers, and community organizations from every corner of the city. Chicagoans took this campaign to the streets on Martin Luther King Day and again on Presidents Day, when canvassers spread throughout the city going door-to-door urging voters to support the elected school board referendum. Some activists took it directly to the mayor’s doorstep, but were asked to leave by the police.
“Chicago parents, teachers and students understand that the current school board works for the mayor, not for us,” said Irene Robinson, member of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization and parent and grandparent of students whose school was closed in 2013. “Their job is to rubberstamp the mayor’s privatization agenda, which seeks to destabilize and ultimately close neighborhood schools—regardless of how the community feels about it.”
“It’s time for the school board to be accountable to the people the schools serve, parents, teachers, students and community residents across the city,” Janeth Herrera, member of the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, added. “We are the ones who know best what our schools and our children need and we deserve a say in the critical decisions that affect them.”
Mayoral control with an appointed school board began with the 1995 Amendatory Act – a state law that handed school governance over to the Mayor. Failed reforms from Mayor Daley’s “Renaissance 2010” to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s closing of 50 schools in 2013 were forged through, despite overwhelming community opposition. In 2012, a similar referendum for an elected board was on the ballot in 13% of Chicago precincts and 87% voters in those precincts voted yes to an elected school board.
“An elected school board is the first step to ensure parents and the community have a say in the direction of public education,” said Jose Caraballo, member of Communities United and parent at Hanson Park Elementary.