Democratic ward bosses to be asked to endorse elected school board bills Lightfoot opposes
Democratic ward bosses will be asked Wednesday to endorse legislation vehemently opposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot — bills that would create an elected board to run Chicago Public Schools — in a move one committeeperson called an extension of party Chairman Toni Preckwinkle’s political feud with Lightfoot.
Lightfoot campaigned as a staunch proponent of an elected school board, only to repeatedly block what she calls an “unwieldy” bill that would triple the size of the board to 21 members, headed by an elected president.
Last month, she fueled speculation about whether she will ever deliver on that pivotal campaign promise by telling the New York Times that CPS would “never have opened without mayoral control.”
“It definitely feels like Preckwinkle is trying to put the screws to Mayor Lightfoot to take action on an elected school board — or at least show that [Cook County Board] President Preckwinkle is standing in solidarity with teachers,” said Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), who doubles as Democratic committeeperson in his Southwest Side ward.
“It’s highly unusual . . . to see this party get so involved in policy issues at the local level. . . . In nearly a decade in this group, I’ve seen us take votes on national matters or statewide matters. But to get so into the weeds at a local level — clearly there must be an ulterior motive.”
The party’s policy committee, chaired by 35th Ward Committee-person Anthony Quezada, decided to take up the issue the day the bill passed out of a General Assembly committee — but not out of “some kind of petty rivalry,” party spokeswoman Delmarie Cobb said.
“It’s disheartening to think that, two years in, people are still thinking that this is about some kind of petty rivalry that’s still going on,” Cobb said. “This is about supporting what the voters of Cook County, and Chicago, specifically, have said they wanted, and that is an elected school board.”
Supporting such a board is the first issue the party plans to tackle so far, Cobb said, adding “it’s a new direction for the party in that they are going to have specific issues that they’re going to get behind and to advance.”
The Chicago Teachers Union endorsed Preckwinkle over Lightfoot in the April 2019 mayoral runoff and was one of Preckwinkle’s biggest financial supporters. The CTU has long championed an elected school board.
The mayor, who walloped Preckwinkle in the runoff, has predicted the high-stakes tension will continue until 2023, when she expects the union to field a mayoral candidate against her.
Sources said the CTU was delighted by the upcoming party vote but did not ask Preckwinkle to initiate it.
Preckwinkle could not be reached. The mayor’s office had no immediate comment.
The resolution endorsing House Bill 2908 and Senate Bill 2497 was unanimously approved by the policy committee of the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization on March 22. The House version of the bill made it out of committee the same day.
If the full Central Committee approves, the party will ratify the endorsement and issue statements articulating that support to House Speaker Chris Welch and Senate President Don Harmon.
Shortly after Lightfoot took office, the entire school board resigned. That allowed Lightfoot to appoint an entirely new board with a heavy emphasis on parents, local school council members and other stakeholders.
At the time, the mayor claimed the new board would serve until an elected school board is seated.
But she also asked then-Senate President John Cullerton to put a brick on an elected school board bill that had sailed through the Illinois House. It would have created a 21-member elected board. Lightfoot claimed it would be virtually impossible for a board that size to get anything done.