A Bill Giving Chicago An Elected School Board Is Headed For The Governor’s Desk
WBEZ Chicago
June 16, 2021
In a major breakthrough after years of failed attempts, state lawmakers passed an elected school board bill Wednesday that could fundamentally change how the nation’s third largest school system operates.
The Illinois House on Wednesday evening passed a compromise bill, already approved by the Senate, in a 70 to 41 vote. Under the bill, Chicago would have a partly elected, partly appointed board in 2025 and a fully elected board in 2027.
The vote was a major defeat for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who strongly opposed the bill.
As she made her closing argument for the bill, Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago), the House sponsor, urged lawmakers to take “final action.”
“I invite you to be on the right side of history, by voting … and finally, giving my niece and my nephew and all of us who wished in our public schools, when we were there, [that we had] an elected representative school board that is accountable to us,” she said.
If signed by the governor, the bill would represent a rejection of nearly 30 years of mayoral control of the school district and a major shift in how the school has been run.