Aldermen Push For Elected School Board Referendum
By Chuck Sudo in News on Nov 9, 2012 11:00PM
The Sun-Times reports that independent aldermen are pushing for a citywide referendum on an elected school board, an idea that has gained support in the wake of the September teachers strike but is opposed by Mayor Emanuel.
Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) and Scott Waguespack (32nd) are pushing for the citywide referendum after a 86.6 percent of voters supported a non-binding referendum on the ballot in Tuesday's election. The seven member school board is appointed by the mayor and voted on by City Council.
Education activists went door-to-door to gather the required signatures to place the question on the ballot, which Center Square Journal publisher Mike Fourcher called "an ill-conceived activist fantasy" that traffics in the Chicago Teachers Union's personal animosities with the Emanuel administration. Gapers Block's Ramsin Canon penned a smart and detailed rebuttal to Fourcher.
Munoz and Waguespack argue the results from Tuesday are a call for more transparency from the school board and the only way to accomplish that is for the board to be elected. Only the Illinois General Assembly can to make that change, and the two aldermen hope a vote of support would help efforts toward that.