{"id":47295,"date":"2025-07-08T00:18:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T00:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/47295\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T00:18:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T00:18:09","slug":"heres-what-hundreds-of-chicagoans-want-to-see-in-next-schools-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/47295\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what hundreds of Chicagoans want to see in next schools chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to keep up with the latest education news.<\/p>\n

The next chief of Chicago Public Schools should prioritize high-quality instruction, make schools feel safe, and have strong communication skills, said respondents in a recent survey conducted as part of the Chicago Board of Education\u2019s search process for the district\u2019s next leader.<\/p>\n

Zencity \u2014 a company focused on community engagement and research \u2014 conducted an analysis of about 2,700 respondents that it recruited on its own, and separately looked at results of another 880 people who received the survey from a board member or Alma Advisory Group, the firm that CPS has hired to conduct the CEO search.<\/p>\n

The survey, conducted between May and June, is one part of the board\u2019s novel community engagement process as it searches for a replacement for former CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, who left CPS last month.<\/a> <\/p>\n

The mayor has typically chosen a CEO<\/a> to lead CPS. Now, the district\u2019s first partially elected, partially appointed board has taken over that responsibility. The board passed a resolution<\/a> in April to launch a community engagement process, promising to center the public\u2019s feedback in its choice for CPS\u2019s next leader. It also passed a resolution requiring the CEO to hold a superintendent\u2019s license,<\/a> which has not been required since 1995 when the district went under mayoral control.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically, CPS has not done a great job of involving community input and desire in a meaningful way,\u201d said board member Jessica Biggs, who is the chair of the board\u2019s transition team. \u201cThere are a lot of things that [the board has] disagreed on, but we were all really clear and aligned that we wanted our [CEO search] process to be centered around community engagement and dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board held 11 community feedback sessions and, separately, focus groups and panel discussions \u2014 resulting in conversations with more than 1,400 people, said Monica Rosen, CEO of Alma Advisory Group, which CPS hired to run the CEO search process<\/a>, at a recent board meeting.<\/p>\n

The public feedback will help the district tweak the scope of the job as Alma recruits and screens candidates, Rosen said. In June the board selected Macquline King,<\/a> a former CPS principal and City Hall education advisor, as its interim CEO.<\/p>\n

We’re on a need-to-know basis.<\/p>\n

Every weekday morning, Chalkbeat Chicago is bringing thousands of subscribers the news on local public schools and education policy that they need to start their day. Sign up for our free newsletter to join them.<\/p>\n

Zencity \u2014 which has worked with other big cities<\/a> \u2014 said it used multiple strategies to ensure the survey \u201caccurately reflects Chicago adults with children in public schools,\u201d including a method called \u201crake weighting,\u201d which weighs responses so that they don\u2019t under- or over-represent the demographics of the population.<\/p>\n

For the roughly 2,700 survey-takers that Zencity recruited on its own, just under half said they were a parent or family member of a CPS student, an educator, or a central office employee. Forty-three percent of respondents said they had no connection to the CPS community. <\/p>\n

Zencity said 33% of respondents are Hispanic, 29% are Black, 28% are white, 6% are multiracial, and about 4% are Asian American. Overall, CPS\u2019s student population is 47% Hispanic, 34% Black, 11% white, just under 5% Asian American, and almost 2% multiracial. <\/p>\n

Most people took the survey in English, but it was also offered in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Polish. <\/p>\n

When asked what student-related areas the next CEO should prioritize, the top answer, chosen by 32% of respondents, was high-quality instruction. Next was preparing students for careers. After that, 22% of respondents said they wanted to see an improvement in academic outcomes for kids, support of students from \u201cdiverse backgrounds,\u201d and addressing inequities in learning opportunities. <\/p>\n

Most people who responded \u2014 just over 60% \u2014 also rated current CPS instruction as positive. But among those people, CPS employees and parents were more likely to feel that way, while people with no connection to CPS were far less likely to say the same, \u201csuggesting that first-hand exposure is more aligned with confidence,\u201d according to Zencity. <\/p>\n

On \u201coperational\u201d priorities, the top response \u2014 from 34% of survey-takers \u2014 was school safety. Thirty percent said they want the CEO to prioritize support for teachers, followed by 27% who want the focus to be CPS\u2019s financial health. <\/p>\n

Top survey responses varied by district, but Zencity highlighted the vast differences on safety. For example, 1 in 5 respondents from District 2B, in the city\u2019s far Northeast neighborhoods, rated school safety as a top priority for the next CEO. But in nearby District 3, which includes Humboldt Park and Logan Square, nearly 1 in 2 respondents rated school safety as a top concern. <\/p>\n

When asked about top attributes they want to see in the next schools chief, the top answer, chosen by 42% of respondents, was \u201cstrong and clear communication.\u201d Thirty-nine percent said someone with \u201cinnovation, strategic thinking, and problem solving\u201d skills, and 37% said someone who seeks and responds to feedback from students, parents, and staff. <\/p>\n

Separately, board members and Alma distributed the survey on their own and reached an additional 880 people. Those results showed some similarities with the other responses and some notable differences. For example, most of these respondents want the next CEO to prioritize high-quality instruction for students, but also named CPS\u2019s financial health as a top operational priority.<\/p>\n

During the public feedback sessions, people shared pride for growing graduation rates,<\/a> student achievement,<\/a> and the district\u2019s focus on equity and inclusion,<\/a> Rosen said. But they also want the district to stabilize finances,<\/a> expand post-high-school options, such as more career and technical education, address enrollment declines,<\/a> \u201cheal longstanding and historic harm\u201d for different communities, particularly the Black community, and address mental health challenges. <\/p>\n

Rosen said they heard frequently from people that \u201cit just seems like the adults can\u2019t get along\u201d \u2014 a reference to the well-publicized<\/a> conflict<\/a> over the past year<\/a> between CPS, the mayor\u2019s office<\/a> and the Chicago Teachers Union.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cParents shared with us that the public fighting they\u2019re seeing among adults in the system has been a distraction and perhaps worse, a bad model for their children,\u201d Rosen said.<\/p>\n

The CEO job was posted in April and garnered a \u201cfew dozen\u201d applicants, Biggs said. Rosen said Alma will further refine the scope of the job based on the community feedback and begin formally recruiting people. The board\u2019s goal is to have someone in place by the end of September.<\/p>\n

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago\u2019s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news. The next…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":47296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,36515,16742,16743,5386,1818],"class_list":{"0":"post-47295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-chicago-board-of-education","10":"tag-chicago-public-schools","11":"tag-cps","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-illinois"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114814746886957517","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}