Gov. JB Pritzker signs law creating elected Chicago school board

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday signed legislation setting up a fully elected school board to oversee the Chicago Public Schools by 2027, starting with a hybrid board that will be elected later this year.

The legislation, backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, was approved by both the Illinois House and Illinois Senate earlier this month.

"I think the city of Chicago is doing the right thing. The Chicago Public Schools will be better led by people who are representative of the people, and not just appointed by the mayor," Pritzker said at the time.

While the legislation would create the first fully-elected school board in Chicago history, Johnson would retain control over the board for the next few years. It calls for a 21-member board to take office next year, with 10 members elected during nonpartisan elections in November, and 10 members and the board's chair appointed by the mayor.

Johnson, a former CPS teacher and Chicago Teachers Union organizer, appointed all seven members of the current Chicago Board of Education.

Candidates for elected school board seats in this year's election can begin circulating nominating petitions on March 26.

The city would be divided into 10 districts, with one board member elected from each district and the mayor appointing the other member from each district. All 10 districts would be divided into two subdistricts, with the elected member and appointed member each required to live in a different subdistrict.

All 21 members, including the chair, would officially take office in January with two-year terms.

In 2026, voters would elect the entire school board, with elections held for all 20 subdistricts and a citywide election for the board president. Board members filling the expired term of a board member elected to their seat in 2024 would serve a 4-year term. Members filling the expired term of a board member appointed to their seat in 2024 would serve a 2-year term. The fully-elected board would be seated in January 2027.

Starting in 2032, board seats for each subdistrict would come up for election three times every 10 years; twice for 4-year terms and once for a 2-year term.

The full map of 20 districts would be made up of seven majority-Black districts, six majority-Latino districts, five majority-White districts, and two districts in which no racial or ethnic group has a majority.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed similar legislation in 2021, despite opposition from then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Last fall, Illinois Senate President Don Harmon introduced a plan to create a fully-elected school board starting with this year's election, but he backed down from that proposal after Johnson backed the plan to start with a hybrid board.

The legislation Pritzker signed on Monday also sets up ethics requirements and conflict of interest provisions for school board members that mirror the rules for other elected school districts in Illinois.

The plan received some pushback from critics who claimed that, by delaying the move to a fully-elected school board, the law further denies voters the opportunity to fully control the destiny of their schools until 2026.