Senate Caves on Fully Elected Chicago School Board
Senate President Don Harmon leaves the House chamber following Governor JB Pritzker’s State of the State address. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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Senate President Don Harmon backed down from a months-long feud with the House and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Tuesday, advancing legislation to create a hybrid elected Chicago School Board bill.
When legislators left Springfield after veto session last fall, the House and Senate had advanced dueling proposals. The Senate supported a fully elected 20-person Chicago School board. The House advanced a measure to elect 10 members in 2024 and allow Mayor Brandon Johnson to appoint ten others and stagger elections for those seats in future years.
But Johnson requested the House version to Harmon last month, and the Senate President acquiesced Tuesday, with the Senate advancing the hybrid school board by a 37-20 margin.
“This plan represents what the Mayor of Chicago and advocates argue is the best way forward, with a phased-in transition to an elected, representative school board paired with strong ethical safeguards,” Harmon said in a statement. “We hope the House quickly sends this measure to the governor’s desk so we can begin this exciting new era of community-led education.”
But not all members of his caucus were happy about the move.
“It’s not too late to amend the House version,” said Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago), who supports a fully-elected school board. “I think we should have pushed and I think the advocates should have pushed for the [fully elected version] that we all passed. I want a 20-member school board. That’s what we agreed on.”
Hunter voted yes.
The only Democrat to vote against the proposal was Sen. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago).
It isn’t clear why Harmon gave in to pass the House version.
“I just don’t think he thought it was worth the fight,” one Democratic lawmaker said, on the condition of anonymity.
If the House passes and Gov. Pritzker signs, petitions would begin to be circulated on March 26 with petition filing in June. The first board election would be on November 5, making it the only school board race in the state that wouldn’t happen in an off-year, municipal election.
