Elected Chicago School Board Fight Will Spill into 2024
Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago) advanced a House proposal that elected half of the Chicago School Board in 2024 and left the rest to appointment from Chicago’s Mayor. The Senate proposal elects all 20 members next year. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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When the legislature returned to Springfield Tuesday for the second week of the annual fall veto session, the district map for an elected Chicago School Board was one of many outstanding issues, but few expected it to be one of the most contentious issues under the dome.
Wednesday afternoon, the House advanced a bill from Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago) to elect half of the 20-member board in 2024 and leave the other half to an appointment from the Chicago Mayor. It was at odds with a Senate amendment pending from Senate President Don Harmon that would elect the whole board in 2024.
Williams was optimistic Wednesday afternoon the two sides could hammer out their differences, but by Wednesday night, Harmon had sent a news release excoriating the House plan over ethical provisions.
“We are concerned with the failure to include strong ethical safeguards in the legislation the House approved,” he said Wednesday night. “The House legislation opens the door for corruption by exempting board members from the requirements under the Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act. A Chicago School Board must be held to the same ethical standards as every other school board in Illinois.”
By Thursday, the House passed the Senate’s ethics language, kept its hybrid model in tact, sent it to the Senate, and skipped town.
“We were operating in the House under the assumption that we would be effectuating the elected school board with the structure prescribed in the 2021 law,” Williams told the Chicago Tribune Thursday after each chamber approved its own proposal. “The idea of revisiting the structure and going to a fully elected board sooner is certainly a conversation that we could have but probably a difficult one to accomplish in just a day or so.”
Harmon said he decided to pass the Senate version of the legislation because it was a better bill.
“This is not a perfect bill, this is not a perfect map. We will never pass a perfect bill,” Harmon said. “I had some trepidation about calling this. I know there’s some angst in our caucus about the particulars here. This is the right thing to do. This is a damn good map. This is a damn good way to implement a long deferred effort to reach democracy in the City of Chicago.”
Harmon also said on the Senate floor Thursday the final plan didn’t have to be enacted until April 1, which he said with a laugh “by Senate standards, we are years ahead of schedule by being months ahead of schedule.”
Though, with petitions for the March primary election already being circulated with filing beginning later this month, even if the Senate bill becomes law, it would create an interesting election in 2024.
Petitions would be filed for the non-partisan seats in June and elected to a two year term in November. It does not appear there will be any primary in 2024, so dozens of candidates could appear on the November ballot.
Terms would stagger beginning in 2026 and would be similar to the Senate style of two four-year terms and one two-year term each decade by 2032.
In conversations with lawmakers Thursday night, there appeared to be some hurt feelings and trust issues between the two caucuses over the issue, but most were optimistic Harmon and House Speaker Chris Welch could come to an agreement before lawmakers return in January.
