Board of Education [remote or in person]
Chicago Public Schools
Education
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
10:30 a.m. — 4:30 p.m. CDT
42 W Madison St Chicago, IL 60602 (Directions)
Board room, Garden level
You have the option to document this meeting in person or remotely, via live stream. Please note that Chicago Board of Education meetings run relatively long (The assignment end time is an estimate based on past meetings’ duration).
If you attend the meeting in person, an additional hour will be added to your pay for this assignment. The meeting will be held at Chicago Public Schools Headquarters (42 W. Madison St., Garden Level, board room). Take a photo to let us know you were there. Prior to the pandemic, the CPS board room frequently reached attendee capacity and broadcasted video of the meeting in an overflow room.
If you plan to document remotely, the meeting will be live-streamed at https://www.youtube.com/c/ChiPubSchools/videos. The live stream may not appear until or a few minutes after the scheduled start time. If you don’t see it right away, give it a few seconds, then try refreshing your Internet tab to see if it loads.
See also: Slide decks and documents discussed during the meeting will eventually be linked at https://www.cpsboe.org/meetings/past-meetings.
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team
Note-taking by
Daniel Wolk
Grim budget, incorrect graduation statistics, developing approaches to safety
Live reporting by
Audrey Sides
Grim budget, incorrect graduation statistics, developing approaches to safety
audrey
@hapahaole__
Hi, I'm Audrey and I'll be live-tweeting the
@ChiPubSchools Board of Education meeting today for #CHIdocumenters
@CHIdocumenters
@ChiPubSchools Board of Education meeting today for #CHIdocumenters
@CHIdocumenters
10:30 AM Mar 22, 2023 CDT
@ChiPubSchools @CHIdocumenters Just waiting for the live stream to start, in the mean time you can find the agenda here: …ntersprodassets.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/2023/0…
Had some technical confusion but now I'm on the stream! Seems like they're on the part of the meeting honoring National Board Certified Teachers
Sharon Coleman is one of very few National Board Certified counselors (2% of all CPS counselors) and is speaking about her skills and abilities she gained in her certification process that helped her as a leader in her school and improving the experience of her students
Now a science teacher named Molly Beth Jourdan, talking about how skills she gained from the certification process made her able to get her class through a whole year of content by February so her students can get more in depth understanding and hands on science experience
Principal of Yates Elementary in Humboldt Park Israel Perez comes on--they're all speaking about the impact this process has had on their professional development and the experience of their students and how they hope this experience can be made available to more teachers
Board president Miguel del Valle emphasizes the point that we want this kind of expertise and development for all CPS teachers, he says that the Board should do all it can to work with CPS and CTU to get more teachers certified
"I can't think of a better way to spend our dollars than to help teachers develop to the gold standard"
Women are more than 70% of teachers and support staff in CPS, they are the center of the CPS community. A few outstanding teachers are highlighted
An additional $45 million was invested in teacher development last year as the district is really trying to support teachers and their development especially coming out of the pandemic
Lead coaches and academic interventionists are new positions that came as a result of this investment.
Lead coaches help teachers develop their skills and provide support inside and outside the classroom, and academic interventionists work to identify students who need academic or social interventions to reach grade-level goals.
CPS data shows that both of these positions are promoting lots of growth in academic success
Tutor corps program was launched to help students catch up after falling behind due to the pandemic, they are now operating daily in 232 schools building 1 on 1 relationships with students and primarily supporting math and reading skills
Read more about tutor corps here, they highlighted that the tutor corps aims to hire very diversely so students can connect with tutors with whom they share life experience cps.edu/campaigns/tuto…
This was in response to this drop in performance on state exams, as reported in @WBEZ in Dec 2021 wbez.org/stories/chicag…
Also found this post about the roll out of this Tutor Corps program @ChicagoUnheard chicagounheard.org/blog/slow-star…
Elizabeth Todd-Breland is talking about how the rules for these meetings are getting updated because it seemed like a lot was getting done essentially bureaucratically, so they did research on high functioning school boards and elected school boards and lots of feedback
Some high level changes on these procedures: a shift from private briefing structure to public committee structure--a week prior to board meetings there will be a public discussion of board agenda items so the community has more of an opportunity to engage and earlier notice
More requirements for board members individually engaging with the community
Gives honorary student board member (they're non voting members) more ability to interact with the Student Voice committees and have more of a voice on the board ssce.cps.edu/student-voice/…
Michael J. Scott says this is step towards a more seamless transition from appointed board to hybrid board to elected board, one of the biggest things people say is they don't trust the board's governance and these measures are all in pursuit of more transparency
Some context: starting in 2025 there will be a hybrid (half elected) board and eventually a fully elected school board chicago.chalkbeat.org/2021/7/30/2260…
President Miguel del Valle reminds people listening that the board members are volunteers. He emphasizes his support for an elected school board and these changes, but especially on making the agenda briefings more efficient
had a blip in my wifi, it seems like someone is giving a report on finances and budget
Stability, Equity, and Continued Recovery are the values that surround next years budget
Federal COVID assistance is temporary--there were funding issues before COVID that are still here. CPS is wildly underfunded federally
CPS remains the only district in the state that funds its own pension fund chicago.chalkbeat.org/2022/5/25/2314…
Now a short video on the honorary student board position, applications are open! youtu.be/_kBEKlqUtGc
Rising juniors and seniors can apply now! One student gets to represent all 300,000 CPS students <3 cpsboe.org/news/article/1…
Public participation section will now start, rules are being shared for participation (people must pre-register)
First public comment is someone advocating for Brandon Johnson's mayoral campaign on the basis of the sorry state of CPS schools--mental health resources, the lack of support for differently abled students, poverty wages, dilapidated facilities
Second public comment is about facilities plan as it pertains to public charter schools--are charters part of the facilities plans? Lots of these students are going to school in buildings literally owned by CPS
SEIU Local 73 executive VP, represents school support staff. Brings up Aramark, they've taken over custodial services and they're horrific to work with and the schools are incredibly unevenly and inefficiently supplied. Big issues with payroll, people are getting shorted checks
If the board takes the management of the custodians, cleanliness will increase--lots of the schools have substandard cleanliness but it's not the workers, it's the management. "You can guess where the dirtiest schools are, they're almost exclusively on the South and West Sides"
They're welcoming conversations, they know what needs to get done to improve the situation. Crossing guards need more safety and better signage.
Every year the district lays off hundreds of special education assistants so it's really difficult to retain people, she proposes a lay off pool for SEAs
Look at ratios of security officers to students/staff--she uses an example of a school with 800 students and one security officer
Now public speakers list: first speaker is giving updates on dual enrolment programs for high school students enrolled in university level courses
Next is a parent of students at George Washington Elementary School. The building was meant to be temporary but was built 10 years old and it's overcrowded and broken and students and teachers are literally getting sick
Now a community member from Altgeld Gardens, the "toxic donut" on the Southeast side chicagotribune.com/opinion/editor…
CPS wanted to tear down one of the most historic landmarks of Altgeld Gardens and replace it with a playground--the community needs more jobs and a restored building and a facility for environmental recovery, they were not consulted
Next speaker is talking about how public trust and accountability is low for this board, but she's happy to hear them talk about it. She says that there are many community organizations who know what to do with these buildings that CPS is ready to get rid of
Next speaker is a parent of Chicago Bulls College Prep students--family experience survey allowed her to give feedback and she felt that her voice was heard
Next is a worker from charter schools--charter schools were more likely than public schools with the same demographics to have higher achievement, looks forward to working with them to continue helping charters
Next a parent from the Tilden community saying they need better technology and infrastructure (bathrooms are constantly shut down, water is iffy, terrible gyms, etc) at their schools
Next a teacher from George Washington Carver High School, he says sports are taking a lot of funding from the school because they have to rent equipment every time, their fields are overgrown and unsafe, barely have any control over the AC or heat
Next a teacher from Bogan High School who feels that the graduation rate at their school was falsely depressed and as a result they are suffering
Another teacher from Bogan--wants to emphasize how Bogan offers a space for the community and offers classes for parents and becomes a second home for many students in a community that needs it, when Bogan is labeled one of the worst schools in the state it is damaging
Another Bogan teacher and alum, emphasizes that the numbers are misleading
Bogan senior is concerned about the graduation rate numbers, feels Bogan is a family and community oriented school and that bright students will now be turned away and that students who want to achieve are given good opportunities to
Another Bogan teacher and alumni says that the school has seen lots of progress 56.2% 2019, lower in 2020 and 2021, wants them to acknowledge that their reporting was not accurate
another speaker says CPS reported a higher graduation rate than the state ones, this is an issue with at the district level because they're including everyone in the area in these numbers and not just the students who are actually at the school and it's up to the district to fix
a Bogan teacher says that this incorrect data turns away teachers and students. The correct data from 2019-21 is actually 77%, not less than 60%
Next speaker is from Tilden, requests that the money being allocated to a new school gets redirected to Tilden as that building needs basic things like plumbing, and the students and teachers are working so hard with the crumbs they get and they need more
Next is a parent speaking on behalf of dyslexic children who aren't being supported in the classroom to learn at grade level. "These issues aren't CPS's fault but it is our problem"
Next is a clinical trauma specialist, is worried about the sex education curriculum, thinks it's too pornographic for kids, "being indoctrinated to accept alternative lifestyles," this was a very gross one (my comment not hers)
Next is co-founder of CPS dyslexia collaborative, she says her child was diagnosed late and was only able to catch up due to spending all day in private tutoring. Only found out after entering a school that the school didn't have the capabilities to meet his needs
Someone came on concerned that students aren't getting good language skills and is concerned about AAVE/Ebonics, oof
Next person is talking about Gov. Pritzker's "anti-God" sex education curriculum "our children should be learning the ABCs, not the GAY-BCs" (this one was genuinely quite funny if you look past the hateful and kind of scary stuff to listen to, I laughed out loud)
Next is a parent saying that Chicago International Charter School has been a great place for her kids and she hopes the board can support more schools like this
Next one is requesting a private meeting with one of the board members (maybe? she said Martinez but no one on the board is Martinez) and is frustrated that she feels she has been bogged down by bureaucracy
Next is a parent who is complaining that kids still have to wear masks when someone has had a close contact test COVID, is annoyed at safety protocols
Attachments
Agency Information
Chicago Public Schools
The Chicago Board of Education is charged with governing the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), setting policies, governing operations, and charting the direction of current and future programs.
A list of board members (with headshots) is here. Board members are currently appointed by the mayor. In 2021, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law that will gradually transition to a 21-member elected school board over the course of 2024-2027.
A list of CPS executive leadership is here.
Documents
1/25/2023
3/23/2022
3/22/2023
3/22/2023
3/22/2023
3/22/2023