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.
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. 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.
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.
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