Fed up with city officials passing the buck as to why so many public schools are under performing, state Sen. James Meeks, D-15th Dist., has proposed legislation that would make Chicago Public Schools more accountable when it comes to school leadership.
Fed up with city officials passing the buck as to why so many public schools are under performing, state Sen. James Meeks, D-15th Dist., has proposed legislation that would make Chicago Public Schools more accountable when it comes to school leadership. “Every time I talk to CPS they say they do not hire principals so they are not to blame for any leadership flaws at schools,” Meeks told the Defender. “So to bring the issue of education to the discussion table and to hold CPS more responsible for school leadership, I have proposed a bill to do just that. The principal is the most important person at a school. After all, they are the ones who hire teachers.” Meeks has introduced legislation that would take supervisory control of schools away from local school councils and make the elected positions advisory in nature. Currently, part of the LSC’s duties is to hire the school principal and oversee budgets. But Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart, who opposes Meeks’ proposal, said reducing input from LSCs sends the wrong message. “Let’s keep the ‘public’ in Chicago Public Schools. We need community input to improve schools,” she said. “The students who attend CPS come from ‘our’ community so our community should have a say so in how local schools are run.” CPS officials have not had a chance to thoroughly review the proposed legislation, according to spokeswoman Monique Bond. But while CPS officials find Senate Bill 3063 unique, many parents said they oppose it. “I am not for taking away parental involvement in schools and going back to the old days when we were notified by mail what went on at our schools,” said Patricia Brooks, 49, whose two grandsons attend public elementary schools. However, state Sen. Emil Jones III, D-14th Dist., said he supports the bill. “I think it would be better to let CPS hire principals and to reduce local school councils to advisory councils,” Jones told the Defender. “By doing so it gives the schools more control over operations and that is needed if public schools are going to improve.” Meeks said LSC members often lack the experience to hire principals and approve million-dollar budgets. “Most LSC members are not sophisticated enough to pick principals and approve budgets,” Meeks explained. “So basically LSCs are being used as scapegoats for failing schools. I think CPS could do a better job at hiring principals than LSCs.” Darnell Glover has been president of the LSC for Wadsworth Elementary on the South Side for the past eight years. He is against the proposal and said CPS is trying to regain authority it lost when LSCs were created. “Prior to LSCs being created CPS hired and fired principals but now that duty has been given to LSCs,” Glover said. “LSCs have taken away a lot of power from CPS and now they want it back.” Should this bill fail Meeks said he has other legislation he is proposing to help students at failing public schools. Senate Bill 2500 would allow low-income students at under performing schools to receive state issued vouchers that would allow them to attend private schools. The vouchers would be paid for by the per student allocation the state currently spends, which is around $6,200, according to Meeks. The state senator, who is also pastor of Salem Baptist Church’s House of Hope, also took aim and Mayor Richard M. Daley. Meeks said that CPS should be taken from Daley’s control and placed in the hands of an elected school board and not the current school board where the mayor appoints members. Instead of shuffling blame, Meeks said it is time to revamp the whole education system in Chicago so more students can receive a quality education. This in not the first time LSCs have come under scrutiny. In 2007 the Curie High School LSC fired Principal Jerryelyn Jones even though test scores had recently improved at the school. Jones, who is Black, said it appeared as though the LSC fired her so it could hire a Hispanic principal since Curie’s student population was majority Hispanic at 65 percent. Today Hispanics account for 77 percent of the students and Blacks make up 13.4 percent. She had worked at the Southwest Side high school for 25 years, including her last eight years as principal. Shortly after Jones’ contract was not renewed Mayor Richard M. Daley called her dismissal a “national disgrace.” The 1988 Chicago School Reform Act created LSCs, which held its first election for members October 1989. Elementary LSCs have 11 members and high school LSCs has 12 members. All members are volunteers and consist of the principal, parents, community residents, teachers, and one student representative. There are 570 LSCs, one for every elementary and high school but does not include charter schools, which uses a board of governors instead. Once elected each LSC member must complete 18 hours of training, which teaches things such as setting a budget, responsibilities of policy makers, performance evaluation, and principal retention and selection. This year’s LSC elections will be held April 21 and 22 at all elementary and high schools.
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