Rep. Dan Swanson (R-Woodhull) | File Photo
Rep. Dan Swanson (R-Woodhull) | File Photo
The lower chamber of the Illinois General Assembly approved legislation that would change the way members of the Chicago school board are chosen to the body, a vote that basically came down to party lines with no Republican expressing support.
"We had legislation that would draw up elected school board districts within the City of Chicago," Dan Swanson (R-Woodhull) said in a mid-April Facebook video. "That passed, but I think there's a bill over in the Senate that [Chicago] Mayor [Lori] Lightfoot has agreed to that is going to be coming from the Senate over to the House."
House Bill 2908, authored by State Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago), calls for the Chicago Board of Education election for just the 2023 and 2027 consolidated primary elections.
It also would create 20 electoral districts to be determined by state lawmakers.
The Mayor of Chicago currently appoints individuals to the governing body of Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest district in the U.S.
The road to advancement in the lower chamber was not an easy one. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed a hybrid school board for starters, which numerous lawmakers in both parties privately panned when it went public.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Lightfoot's proposal delays the first school board contest until 2026, and when it is held, just two seats are to be decided.
The third seat, meanwhile, would not be voted on until 2028.
Three mayoral appointments would follow soon after.
State Sen. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) had introduced an elected school board bill that was also a magnet of criticism.
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