Another one bites the dust.
On Dec. 8, Forrest Claypool, the Chicago Public School CEO for the past three years, resigned effective Dec. 31st after being accused by the CPS Inspector General Nicholas Schuler of “repeatedly lying” and participating in a “full-blown cover-up” an ethics probe.
Claypool acknowledged making a “stupid mistake” when he knowingly, against the advice of six attorneys, allowed his good friend and CPS Chief Counsel Ronald Marmer to supervise his former law firm, which was simultaneously representing the district in a lawsuit and paying Marmer installments on a $1 million severance package.
No criminal charges have been filed against Claypool, but this latest lapse in judgement comes on the heels of the 2015 criminal conviction Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who had closed a historic 50 schools during her brief two-year stint as the district’s CEO. In August, Bennett began serving a four-and-a-half year sentence in federal prison for her role in a $2.3 million kickback scheme.
By the time CPS 8th graders graduate next June, they will have had eight different school CEOs since kindergarten.
But while CPS teachers are usually fatigued and disillusioned by the revolving door at the top the district, many educators are hopeful that their new boss is the real deal.
Enter Dr. Janice Jackson
Dr. Janice Jackson is currently the chief education officer for the district and will be the new acting CEO come January 1st. Her pedigree of being 1) a native Chicagoan, 2) a CPS graduate, 3) an veteran CPS educator, and 4) a current CPS parent is the perfect profile for someone running the district. No other schools CEO has ever had all four characteristics, which is ground breaking and worthy city pride!
She’s young—just 40 years old—and Black. She graduated from Hyde Park High School, a neighborhood school on the South Side of Chicago; earned a bachelor’s degree from Chicago State University; and took a teaching position at South Shore High School, which at the time was one of the lowest performing schools in the city.
She quickly rose up the ranks to become the founding principal at two West Side schools: Al Raby High School and Westinghouse College Prep, a neighborhood and a selective enrollment school, respectively. Along the way, she earned a doctorate degree in education from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
To add even more skin in the game, Jackson sends her daughter to a high performing public elementary school, unlike several of her predecessors who sent their children to private schools.
Jackson’s appointment was heralded with a refreshing spark of optimism from Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey, who last year credited Jackson with negotiating a last-minute deal that averted a teachers’ strike.
Will She Be a Hero or a Zero?
Sharkey’s and the teachers union support for Jackson, however, has conditions. They want her to reverse the policies Claypool supported, like the planned closings of all four neighborhood high schools in Englewood in June for the 2019 opening of an $85 million consolidated high school that none of the displaced students would be allowed to attend. They also want Jackson to axe plans to close of the National Teachers Academy—a high-performing, mostly low-income African American elementary school—to convert it into a high school serving the gentrified South Loop area.
Community protests against both school closure plans won’t be going away.
So here’s the question: Is Jackson being set up for success or for yet another tumultuous short-term career as CEO? With all the high hopes and inspiration that comes with her new appointment flourish or let down?
We must remember that Jackson is not the true head of CPS. At the end of the day, Mayor Emanuel controls both the school district and the school board, and Jackson must answer to him.
So when Jackson stands in front of the TV cameras announcing her policies and plans, will the teachers and parents viewing from the other side trust that she is promoting what she truly believes is in the best interest their students and children, or simply what the mayor wants?
Will Jackson be able to maintain the credibility and respect that she now enjoys in the Black community, as the district CEO who was once a low-income student of color like the kids who make up nearly 90 percent of the district? Or will she lose the public trust for implementing Emanuel’s policies, which sometimes have questionable educational advantages but very clear political ones?
At a time when African Americans are leaving Chicago because of high crime and lack of economic opportunity and school enrollment in Black neighborhoods is at record lows, decisions about school closings and gentrification will surely plague Jackson’s administration.
On the other hand, Jackson takes control of the district at a singularly positive moment. A recent Stanford study showed that CPS is the fastest academically improving school district in the nation.
Mayor Emanuel, Please Let Her Be Great!
Much like Jackson, I’m a homegrown Chicago girl, educator and parent. And while I envy her new $250,000 salary, I doubt I could even stand still on the tightrope she’ll have to walk between the public and City Hall.
In some ways, now might be the best time for Jackson to take over the school district: With Emanuel’s re-election bid a little more than a year away, she has unprecedented leverage because he needs her to win over Black and Latino voters.
And I’m one of them. I’ll be praying for our new school leader to have the courage, wisdom, and integrity to do what’s right for our kids. I’m also praying that Mayor Emanuel will listen to Dr. Jackson and let her be great. After all, the 8th graders in this city don’t need a 9th CEO.