A proposed bill making its way through the Illinois House would mandate education requirements for future chief executive officers or superintendents of Chicago Public Schools.
A proposed bill making its way through the Illinois House would mandate education requirements for future chief executive officers or superintendents of Chicago Public Schools.
House Bill 0209, sponsored by state Rep. Kenneth Dunkin, D-5th Dist., seeks to change the current CPS code to require that the CEO and a general superintendent of public schools have a master’s degree in education and hold a current teaching certificate.
The bill, now in the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, strikes at the heart of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s current model of having a business person run the nation’s third largest school district.
For Dunkin, the bill is personal.
“It should be personal for every CPS parent. I have three kids that attend CPS so who is responsible for their education is important to me,” Dunkin told the Defender. “By not having these requirements already in place shows a disrespect for the profession.”
He added that the difference between an educator and a businessman is dollars and common sense.
“A businessman makes decisions based on the bottom line financially but an educator will use common sense when making decisions affecting our babies,” Dunkin said, who added he expects the bill to be called up for vote next month.
In 1995 the Illinois Legislature changed requirements for the CEO and turned over control of public schools to Daley. Since then Daley has appointed one businessman after another to run the school district, which has 408,000 students and over 600 schools.
But Daley told the Defender that the state should have other things on its agenda.
“The state is going broke so I think they have bigger things to worry about than requirements for the CEO,” the mayor said.
His Press Secretary Jacqueline Heard added that the mayor’s position remains unchanged and that he favors a candidate with fiscal management experience over a career educator.
Dunkin pointed out that he was not a state representative when lawmakers voted to change the requirements over a decade ago and said Republicans controlled the House and Senate during that time.
Race could be a reason why requirements are different for CPS and other school districts, Dunkin suggested.
“You do not see business executives running suburban school districts like Winneka but then again many suburban districts are comprised of white students where by CPS is comprised mostly of Black and Hispanic students,” he said.
Should the bill successfully pass the House, state Sen. Rickey Hendon, D-5th Dist., said he would sponsor the bill in the Senate.
“I will carry it all the way if it reaches the Senate. In 10 years I have never had a bill I sponsored fail,” Hendon said. “CPS is in the business of educating our children so that requires an educator and not a businessman.”
Community organizations also support the proposed bill.
“An educator would be better because an educator will be more sensitive to the needs of parents, students and the community,” said Michelle Young, president of Action Now. “These corporate executives are making the business of education a financial matter and that is not the way it is suppose to be.”
Young, who have two children who attend CPS, added that ideally it would be nice if the CEO had both an education and a business background.
Since Daley took over the school district, he tapped businessmen Paul Vallas, Arne Duncan and Ron Huberman to run CPS. Previously, the district had been headed by such educators as Ruth B. Love and Manford Byrd, Ph.D.
In November Daley appointed Terry Mazany as interim CEO following Huberman’s resignation.
Copyright 2011 Chicago Defender