{"id":406289,"date":"2025-11-26T15:48:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T15:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/406289\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T15:48:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T15:48:15","slug":"chicago-school-boards-ceo-search-is-in-a-holding-pattern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/406289\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago School Board\u2019s CEO Search Is In A Holding Pattern"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat<\/a>.\u00a0Sign up for\u00a0Chalkbeat Chicago\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.<\/p>\n

CHICAGO \u2014 Earlier this month, after Chicago\u2019s school board appeared\u00a0to have two finalists<\/a>\u00a0for the next CEO of Chicago Public Schools, the board was poised to hire a new leader by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s unclear which finalists remain and when the district will have a new CEO.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, appointed school board member Michilla Blaise said that the board is \u201creconsidering the process.\u201d But elected board member Jessica Biggs, who is helping lead the board search committee, said they are rescheduling finalist interviews.<\/p>\n

This comes a week after Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters he was under the impression that \u201cpeople can still apply if they want\u201d to lead the nation\u2019s fourth largest school system.<\/p>\n

Chicago is looking to replace former CEO Pedro Martinez, who was\u00a0fired without cause<\/a>\u00a0and left the district in June. Board members had promised a transparent search process that includes public feedback, but in recent weeks many have declined to comment on where the search stands.<\/p>\n

Elected board member Jitu Brown, who represents the West Side, nodded in agreement with Blaise\u2019s comment at the end of an unrelated press conference. Both said they couldn\u2019t share more information because they\u00a0signed nondisclosure agreements.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have updates,\u201d Brown told reporters.<\/p>\n

Biggs declined to share a timeline for when rescheduled interviews could happen.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, board members appeared to settle on two finalists:\u00a0former New York City schools chancellor Meisha Porter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0current Denver superintendent Alex Marrero<\/a>, who later said in a statement that he was committed to Denver Public Schools. Sources said they would face final interviews with the mayor, the board, and a community panel during the week of Nov. 10. On Tuesday, Biggs said finalists were not interviewed at that time because of a need to reschedule; she declined to confirm who the finalists were or how many remain.<\/p>\n

At one point, the board had scheduled three special meetings for that week. Two were canceled and one adjourned after about an hour.<\/p>\n

Multiple board members have declined to comment on what happened or was discussed during the closed session that day, citing their NDAs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board is working on recalibrating and deciding how to move forward together,\u201d Biggs said.<\/p>\n

Last week, the head of Alma Advisory Group, the search firm hired to help the board find a new leader, said she did not have a search status update. Alma did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s search process\u00a0began in the spring<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0community meetings<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0surveys<\/a>\u00a0collecting feedback from the public about what it wanted to see in a new schools chief. The board also passed a resolution requiring the future\u00a0CEO to have a superintendent\u2019s license.<\/a><\/p>\n

Board members began\u00a0interviewing candidates this fall<\/a>\u00a0and planned to have a new leader in place by the end of this year, but also said finalist names would not be made public so as not to jeopardize their current jobs.<\/p>\n

But when\u00a0the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ reported earlier this month<\/a>\u00a0that the board had narrowed its choices to two unnamed finalists, some local organizations pushed back. The Chicago Teachers Union, a close ally of the mayor\u2019s, criticized the board for not naming the finalists publicly and asserted in a letter to the board president that state law still gives the mayor the power to choose the CEO, an opinion shared by one of the state senators who created the elected school board law. But legal experts\u00a0told Chalkbeat<\/a>\u00a0the law is not written clearly.<\/p>\n

A group of West Side organizations, including the West Side branch of the NAACP, have pushed to keep interim CPS CEO Macquline King in the role and expressed disappointment when she was not reportedly one of the finalists.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the mayor said Tuesday he was planning to meet with finalists in early November, but after\u00a0finalist names leaked<\/a>, the process was paused.<\/p>\n

Last Monday, the mayor said he believed there was still a lot of interest in the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there are a number of people who would love to be able to serve this city, particularly the time in which you know, again, my budget is putting forth the largest single investment in our public schools in the history of Chicago,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cSo there\u2019s a reason why a lot of folks want this position, because they\u2019re going to have a mayor who believes in public education.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the next leader of CPS will need to transition the school system into \u201ccomplete autonomy\u201d after the school board becomes fully elected in 2027 and oversee \u201cgradual weaning off of its dependency and its reliance upon the city of Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story has been updated to include comment from a mayoral spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Becky Vevea and Mila Koumpilova contributed reporting.<\/p>\n

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at\u00a0ramin@chalkbeat.org.<\/a><\/p>\n

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