DEMANDING A FREE & FAIR ELECTION FOR CHICAGO LOCAL SCHOOL COUNCILS (LSCS)
The presidential race isn’t the only election around the corner - elections for Local School Councils will be held on November 18 and 19 this year.
In Chicago, Local School Councils (LSCs) play a fundamental role in governing the city’s public schools. They have the power to select the principal, approve the school’s budget, oversee the school’s improvement plan, and to vote on whether to assign police officers (also known as School Resource Officers) to work at the school.
LSCs are composed primarily of elected local representatives – 6 parent members and 2 community members elected every two years, as well as the principal and appointed teaching and non-teaching school staff members (and a student representative for high schools).
The COVID-19 global health pandemic presents unprecedented challenges for the district, and the Illinois legislature has already allowed CPS to push LSC elections back six months to ensure that voting can be done safely. But with just 34 days until the LSC elections, there are many unknowns. CPS has not publicly released information about the specific dates or processes that would allow candidates, parents, school community and public to exercise their constitutional rights to engage in the democratic LSC election process.
As part of the LSCs 4 All Coalition, we’ve signed a letter urging CPS to publicly release the necessary information about how it plans to uphold its duty to hold free and equal LSC elections during the pandemic – including measures for equitable access to parent and community voting whether in-person, mail-in ballot or by other means.
LSC elections are vitally important in ensuring that parents and local community members have a voice in how their local schools are run. CPS has a constitutional obligation to hold free and equal LSC elections, and to offer every eligible voter – including parents and community members – an equal and accessible chance to vote in these elections.