Chicago needs an elected representative school board.
Raise Your Hand Action is part of a city-wide coalition working to get an Elected Representative School Board (ERSB) for Chicago. We think that parents and community members should be able to vote for their school board. Chicago’s school board is not elected by the people, but instead is appointed by the mayor. Chicago is the only school district in Illinois with an appointed board. The Illinois General Assembly must pass a law to change that.
An elected board is a necessary first step to improve our schools.
An elected representative school board would be directly accountable to the public, more diverse and representative of CPS families.
Chicago needs an elected board of education, one where board members who have financial conflicts of interests must bear the scrutiny of the voters at the ballot box.
Nearly 90% of Chicago voters asked about an elected school board in 2015 voted in favor of having one.
In May 2017, an elected school board bill HB1774 passed both chambers of the IL General Assembly by overwhelming majorities. But Speaker Madigan and President Cullerton refused to bring the bill to concurrence (have small differences in the House and Senate versions resolved) so that it could proceed to the Governor's desk.
The leaders in both chambers need to stop stalling and make this happen!
Action Steps
- Call your state rep and senator to ask them why HB2267 hasn't yet been assigned to the Education Committee. Examples of what you can say when you call are below.
- Talk to parents, teachers, students, LSC and community members. Ask them to contact their state legislators, Senate President Harmon and House Speaker Madigan.
- Sign up to work on the campaign for an elected school board for Chicago. New Sign-up Link?
Script
“Hi, my name is _______ and I’m a constituent of Senator/Rep _____________. I am calling to ask about the status of House Bill 2267 for an Elected Representative School Board for Chicago. My community deserves a real voice and a real vote in how our public schools are run. When is this bill going to get moving? Why is it stalled when the vast majority of legislators support it?"