Illinois Passes a Law to Keep Local School Councils Inclusive

Last week, our advocates celebrated alongside partners including IL Raise Your Hand, MALDEF, and Illinois Families for Public Schools as the Illinois Senate passed SB 148. The law will reduce barriers for civically engaged parents and community leaders to serve as Local School Council (LSC) members, promoting more diverse and inclusive representation in Chicago’s public schools.

LSCs are elected at each public school in Chicago to approve the budget and academic plan and evaluate the principal, among other key decisions that play an important role in educational equity. LSC members are volunteers who are closely supervised by school staff. You can read more about LSCs here.

Currently, Chicago Public Schools forces LSC members to submit to unnecessary fingerprint checks, discouraging Black and brown parents hoping to serve on their local LSCs because of prior felony convictions or fear of officials using the fingerprint process to punish them for their immigration status. SB 148 will allow CPS to apply the same standards to all volunteers, including LSC members, removing the fingerprint requirement while still screening LSC candidates against the Sex Offender and Violent Offender Against Youth Databases.

We urge the Illinois House to pass this bill. We will be monitoring the law’s implementation within CPS, which will need to work to update their policies and inform communities about these positive changes.