Johnson is singing the same old song
Mayor passes over business community in reshaping the Board of Education
Mayor Brandon Johnson finished his first major assignment with a resounding F when he named his Chicago Board of Education appointments this week. With looming deficits, the opted to exclude anyone with deep financial expertise- just as he did with his transition team. The failed assignment with the board is amplified because every Chicago taxpayer has ties to CPS-even those with no children in the school district; yet no one without ties to some quasi-educational operation was named.
Johnson compounded the travesty he is creating by failing to include one Black male on the seven-member board, as well as no one with a stellar legal background. If the list of Black men capable and most likely ready to serve was laid end-to-end in Soldier Field, it would stretch from goal line to goal line. It is inconceivable that as a Black man, Johnson would ignore this demographic. The situation is even more distressing when we note the mayor named a 33-year-old educaton activist who is a Boston, MA. native who has only lived in Chicago for three years.
I am not clear if it is a tragedy of extreme irony that Johnson selected an Asian American to lead the board when that demographic, aggregated with Pacific Islanders make up less than 5 percent of CPS enrollment; while Black students comprise 36 percent of the 392,000 students in the city’s schools. Adding to the irony is Jianan Shi’s educational focus has been one Asian-American students and issues.
Logic tells us that had Johnson selected a Black male to be president of the board there would be minimal backlash given Black students’ presence within CPS. The mayor seemingly went out of his way to ensure Black folk have infiniepresentatesimal representation when the new board is seated in two weeks. The greatest tragedy we may be watching is someone convinced the mayor race doesn’t matter. This is Chicago and it is doubtable anyone alive can recall a time in this city when race did not matter.
Not only will the new board be void of a Black male presenece; it also will be missing any member with a strong, comprehensive and history of tackling multi-million dollar issues. Granted, most of Johnson’s appointments are connected to the issue of education; none have the experience of day-to-day management of running a school, much less a district.
CPS is predicted to have a budget deficit that will stetch into at least $1 billion. The district has been kept afloat financially the last couple of years thanks to Federal pandemic funding, but that spigot is about to be turned off. Then, this body of appointees with no financial background (collectively or individually) will be faced with how to stem the reality of expenses far exceeding revenues. Ongoing declining enrollment all but assures state funding will decrease too. Before this board’s term is over we should expect to see CPS cuts at every level as well as school closings. There will be no other way to come close to operating in the black.
Johnson also appears to be ignorant of the focus of the treatment of Black males at CPS. Renowed cvil rights attorney this week charged the district with discrimination and corruption over the firing of several Black principals. Crump is seeking a federal investigation. This is not a matter that popped up overnight. There was enough time for the mayor to alter the list to include at least one Black male.
Crump has earned a reputation as a relentless litigator in civil rights cases across the country. However, he was not alone in his commendation of CPS, as he was joined Fr Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Church and representatives of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition-both staunch supporters of the Johnson campaign.
What may very well be the city’s largest Black professional cohort-attorneys also got the cold shoulder from Johnson. Ignoring Black males, the business community, and Black attorneys forces the question of whether the mayor is the “progressive” he claims to be; and if so when is he going to demonstrate that to Chicagoans?