Latest news with #ChicagoBoardofEducation
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
School board picks Macquline King as interim CPS chief
The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday approved Macquline King as interim schools chief, replacing outgoing CEO Pedro Martinez as the search for a permanent leader continues. The board approved the resolution 11-8, with one abstention. At Wednesday's meeting, Chicago Public Schools' parents and community members emphasized the urgency of the decision for the interim post, as the school district faces a $529 million deficit in fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1. King's appointment follows a nearly yearlong power struggle between Martinez and Mayor Brandon Johnson over a borrowing plan to balance the budget for the school year that ends Thursday. The parties disagreed over whether to take out a $300 million loan to cover expenses for a new teachers' contract and a payment to a pension fund for non-teaching CPS employees. Martinez was fired in December. He's taken a new job as the new commissioner of elementary and secondary education in Massachusetts. As Chicago's senior director of educational policy, King was the only candidate of the three finalists who currently works with the city. Last week, allegations of negligence from her time as principal of a school in Uptown surfaced in her background, according to documents obtained by the Tribune through the Freedom of Information Act. The other candidates, Alfonso Carmona and Nicole Milberg, are both currently CPS chiefs. Asked Wednesday about the possibility King would be the board's choice, Johnson declined to discuss particular candidates, but said whoever the board chooses 'has to be someone that reflects the values that I've fought for my entire education career, that's the thing that's most important here.' 'My values are, we have to have a school district that works for every single child,' Johnson said at a City Hall news conference. And he said board members went through a 'very thorough process' to decide who to put into the interim post. A day before King's appointment, the Chicago Westside Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sent a letter to board President Sean Harden, requesting board members 'hire a Black person who is a qualified Educator' for both the interim and permanent roles. The Tribune obtained a copy of the letter. Karl Brinson, president of the branch, said the organization had come to its recommendation 'based on past harm to Black families caused by past CEOs' and the 'taking away of resources' that led to the displacement of Black communities in Chicago. Neither branch representatives nor Harden responded to the Tribune's request for comment. Next year's budgets for each of the district's more than 600 schools were released in mid-May with the assumption that CPS would receive $300 million in additional money from the city and state. Without additional funding, school principals are still planning for hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts and are making difficult decisions about which programs and positions to eliminate. District officials have stated that if the $300 million doesn't materialize, they will be forced to pursue even more drastic cost-saving measures. The state did not allocate additional funding to the large, historically underfunded school district in early June. That means the relationships with the city will be important in upcoming budget talks. Wednesday's meeting also provided board members the opportunity to discuss items that will be voted on at the board meeting later this month. Board members talked about new contracts to be approved for youth mental health services, building and projects, as well as a green schools resolution being introduced by Anusha Thotakura, whose school board district encompasses neighborhoods downtown and just south of those commercial areas. Multiple community members stepped forward to express concerns about the challenging financial situation ahead. 'In my neighborhood, many of our children, including my goddaughter, suffer from asthma,' said Robin Moore, president of the board of governors at Carver Military Academy High School on the Far South Side. 'We in the community … have to choose between investing in our building or investing in programs.' Chicago Tribune's Alice Yin contributed.
Chicago Tribune
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
School board picks Macquline King to lead CPS temporarily in face of deficit
The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday approved Macquline King as interim schools chief, replacing outgoing CEO Pedro Martinez as the search for a permanent leader continues. The board passed the resolution 11-8, with one abstention. At Wednesday's meeting, Chicago Public Schools' parents and community members emphasized the urgency of the decision for the interim post, as the school district faces a $529 million deficit in fiscal year 2026, which begins on July 1. King's appointment follows a nearly year-long power struggle between Martinez and Mayor Brandon Johnson over a borrowing plan to balance the budget for the school year that ends tomorrow. The parties disagreed over whether to take out a $300 million loan to cover expenses for a new teachers' contract and a payment to a pension fund for non-teaching CPS employees. Martinez was fired in December. He's taken a new job as the new commissioner of elementary and secondary education in Massachusetts. As Chicago's senior director of educational policy, King was the only candidate of the final three under consideration who currently works with the city. Last week, allegations of negligence from her time as principal of a school in Uptown surfaced in her background, according to documents obtained by the Tribune through the Freedom of Information Act. The other candidates, Alfonso Carmona and Nicole Milberg, are both currently CPS chiefs. Asked Wednesday about the possibility King would be the board's choice, Johnson declined to discuss particular candidates, but said whoever the board chose 'has to be someone that reflects the values that I've fought for my entire education career, that's the thing that's most important here.' 'My values are, we have to have a school district that works for every single child,' Johnson said at a City Hall news conference. And he said board members went through a 'very thorough process' to decide who to put into the interim post. A day before King's appointment, the Chicago Westside branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sent a letter to Harden, requesting board members 'hire a Black person who is a qualified Educator' for both the interim and permanent roles. The Tribune obtained a copy of the letter. Karl Brinson, president of the branch, said the organization had come to its recommendation 'based on past harm to Black families caused by past CEOs' and the 'taking away of resources' that led to the displacement of Black communities in Chicago. Neither the branch nor Harden responded to the Tribune's request for comment. Next year's budgets for each of the district's more than 600 schools were released in mid-May with the assumption that CPS would receive $300 million in additional money from the city and state. Without additional funding, school principals are still planning for hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts and are already making difficult decisions about which programs and positions to eliminate. District officials have stated that if the $300 million doesn't materialize, they will be forced to pursue even more drastic cost-saving measures. The state did not allocate additional funding to the large, historically underfunded school district in early June. That means the relationships with the city will be important in upcoming budget talks. Wednesday's meeting also provided board members the opportunity to discuss items that will be voted on at the board meeting later this month. Board members talked about new contracts to be approved for youth mental health services, building and projects, as well as a green schools resolution being introduced by Anusha Thotakura, whose school board district encompasses neighborhoods downtown and just south of those commercial areas. Multiple community members stepped forward to express their concerns about the challenging financial situation ahead in the coming weeks and months. 'In my neighborhood, many of our children, including my goddaughter, suffer from asthma,' said Robin Moore, president of the board of governors at Carver Military Academy High School on the far South Side. 'We in the community … have to choose between investing in our building or investing in programs.'
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Daywatch: How Illinois officials are reacting to Trump's travel ban
Good morning, Chicago. Chicago immigration advocates and politicians condemned a looming Trump administration travel ban that would bar or restrict travelers from 19 countries, a reprisal and expansion of a similar policy that was fiercely protested across the country during the president's first term. U.S. Rep. Jesús 'Chuy' García lambasted the ban, which is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, while accusing President Donald Trump of using the restrictions as a political diversion tactic. 'This travel ban won't make America safer or greater — instead it will isolate us and make people believe they have something to fear,' he posted on the social media site X. 'It's a distraction from the corruption of the Trump Administration.' The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations decried the travel ban as 'ideologically motivated, overbroad and unnecessary,' arguing it was signed under a false pretext of protecting national security. Read the full story from the Tribune's Angie Leventis Lourgos. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including what led to a flameout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, which Illinois hospitals may soon offer a lower level of trauma care and the iconic piece from 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' that is up for auction. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History A Chicago police officer was shot and killed during an armed confrontation in a Chatham apartment last night, authorities said. The officer, part of a tactical team in the Gresham (6th) District, was trying to conduct an investigatory stop on a person believed to have a weapon around 9:50 p.m. near the intersection of East 82nd Street and South Drexel Avenue, police Superintendent Larry Snelling said. Maybe it was always going to end this way, with two billionaires angrily posting about each other on social media, fingers flying across pocket-sized screens as their incandescent feud burned hotter by the minute. But even if the finale was predictable, that didn't make it any less shocking. After long months when Donald Trump and Elon Musk appeared united in their chaotic mission to remake Washington, their relationship imploded this week like a star going supernova. A jury found a man guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins as he tried to protect his pregnant mother, ending the trial with a quick verdict after the brutal 2024 attack put a spotlight on protections for domestic violence victims and spurred new legislation. The Chicago Board of Education has narrowed its list for the interim schools' chief down to three candidates in recent days, one of whom faced negligence allegations as a principal, according to documents obtained by the Tribune through the Freedom of Information Act. Prime Healthcare may ask the state for permission to offer lower-level trauma care at three of the eight Illinois hospitals it bought early this year, compared with what those hospitals were providing before the sale, Prime said in a letter sent to U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth this week. A county caseworker accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death and severely wounding two of her sons in February had been placed on desk duty at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center after he allegedly threatened to kill the same woman two months earlier, police records show. Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark said she remains day to day with a left quadriceps strain and will be re-evaluated this weekend after the team's game against the Chicago Sky tomorrow at the United Center. Chicago Sky's Kamilla Cardoso held out of practice with shoulder soreness ahead of United Center game Mr. Hockey has hit 90, but he's still not ready to put his love for the sport on ice. Paul Hruby, whose impact on hockey in Oak Park has been so significant that the ice arena at the Ridgeland Common Recreation Center was named after him in 2007, began his ninth decade of life on May 31. He has worked for the Park District of Oak Park in some capacity for 62 years, teaching and coaching hockey and getting people comfortable in their skates. Few films have done more to cement the city of Chicago's reputation in American culture than 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' the 1986 teen comedy classic that follows Ferris and his two friends as they skip school in the suburbs to explore everything the Windy City has to offer. Now, 40 years after cameras first rolled, an iconic piece of the film's wardrobe is jumping off the screen and into one lucky fan's closet. Revisiting 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' filming locations 40 years later Elizabeth McGovern, the American actress best known for playing Lady Cora in the British TV and movie franchise 'Downton Abbey,' will star in a show headed to Chicago that is based series of real-life interviews given by the Hollywood actress Ava Gardner. Mike Carson made the backdrops for school plays. He also ran the lights. He played football at Plainfield North High School, but at heart, he was a theater kid. As a child, his parents often took him to Chicago theater. That stuck in surprising ways. So much so, you are familiar with Mike Carson's work even if you don't know him by name, or thought of that work as theatrical. Carson, now the creative director at pgLang in Los Angeles, is one of Kendrick Lamar's longtime production designers and creative partners. If you're headed to Solider Field this week to see 'The Grand National Tour' featuring Lamar and SZA, know this: a lot of what you'll see is Mike Carson's ongoing collaboration with Lamar and Dave Free, childhood friends who cofounded pgLang in 2020 as an arts incubator. Also around the area this weekend, a big prize for fastest dinosaur at the Field Museum and a busy weekend at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park.
Chicago Tribune
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: How Illinois officials are reacting to Trump's travel ban
Good morning, Chicago. Chicago immigration advocates and politicians condemned a looming Trump administration travel ban that would bar or restrict travelers from 19 countries, a reprisal and expansion of a similar policy that was fiercely protested across the country during the president's first term. U.S. Rep. Jesús 'Chuy' García lambasted the ban, which is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, while accusing President Donald Trump of using the restrictions as a political diversion tactic. 'This travel ban won't make America safer or greater — instead it will isolate us and make people believe they have something to fear,' he posted on the social media site X. 'It's a distraction from the corruption of the Trump Administration.' The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations decried the travel ban as 'ideologically motivated, overbroad and unnecessary,' arguing it was signed under a false pretext of protecting national security. Read the full story from the Tribune's Angie Leventis Lourgos. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including what led to a flameout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, which Illinois hospitals may soon offer a lower level of trauma care and the iconic piece from 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' that is up for auction. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History A Chicago police officer was shot and killed during an armed confrontation in a Chatham apartment last night, authorities said. The officer, part of a tactical team in the Gresham (6th) District, was trying to conduct an investigatory stop on a person believed to have a weapon around 9:50 p.m. near the intersection of East 82nd Street and South Drexel Avenue, police Superintendent Larry Snelling said. Maybe it was always going to end this way, with two billionaires angrily posting about each other on social media, fingers flying across pocket-sized screens as their incandescent feud burned hotter by the minute. But even if the finale was predictable, that didn't make it any less shocking. After long months when Donald Trump and Elon Musk appeared united in their chaotic mission to remake Washington, their relationship imploded this week like a star going supernova. A jury found a man guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins as he tried to protect his pregnant mother, ending the trial with a quick verdict after the brutal 2024 attack put a spotlight on protections for domestic violence victims and spurred new legislation. The Chicago Board of Education has narrowed its list for the interim schools' chief down to three candidates in recent days, one of whom faced negligence allegations as a principal, according to documents obtained by the Tribune through the Freedom of Information Act. Prime Healthcare may ask the state for permission to offer lower-level trauma care at three of the eight Illinois hospitals it bought early this year, compared with what those hospitals were providing before the sale, Prime said in a letter sent to U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth this week. A county caseworker accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death and severely wounding two of her sons in February had been placed on desk duty at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center after he allegedly threatened to kill the same woman two months earlier, police records show. Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark said she remains day to day with a left quadriceps strain and will be re-evaluated this weekend after the team's game against the Chicago Sky tomorrow at the United Center. Mr. Hockey has hit 90, but he's still not ready to put his love for the sport on ice. Paul Hruby, whose impact on hockey in Oak Park has been so significant that the ice arena at the Ridgeland Common Recreation Center was named after him in 2007, began his ninth decade of life on May 31. He has worked for the Park District of Oak Park in some capacity for 62 years, teaching and coaching hockey and getting people comfortable in their skates. Few films have done more to cement the city of Chicago's reputation in American culture than 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' the 1986 teen comedy classic that follows Ferris and his two friends as they skip school in the suburbs to explore everything the Windy City has to offer. Now, 40 years after cameras first rolled, an iconic piece of the film's wardrobe is jumping off the screen and into one lucky fan's closet. Elizabeth McGovern, the American actress best known for playing Lady Cora in the British TV and movie franchise 'Downton Abbey,' will star in a show headed to Chicago that is based series of real-life interviews given by the Hollywood actress Ava Gardner. Mike Carson made the backdrops for school plays. He also ran the lights. He played football at Plainfield North High School, but at heart, he was a theater kid. As a child, his parents often took him to Chicago theater. That stuck in surprising ways. So much so, you are familiar with Mike Carson's work even if you don't know him by name, or thought of that work as theatrical. Carson, now the creative director at pgLang in Los Angeles, is one of Kendrick Lamar's longtime production designers and creative partners. If you're headed to Solider Field this week to see 'The Grand National Tour' featuring Lamar and SZA, know this: a lot of what you'll see is Mike Carson's ongoing collaboration with Lamar and Dave Free, childhood friends who cofounded pgLang in 2020 as an arts incubator. Also around the area this weekend, a big prize for fastest dinosaur at the Field Museum and a busy weekend at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CPS narrows interim CEO search as negligence allegations surface in top candidate's record
The Chicago Board of Education has narrowed its list for the interim schools' chief down to three candidates in recent days, one of whom has a history of alleged negligence as a principal, according to documents obtained by the Tribune through the Freedom of Information Act. The people in consideration are: Macquline King, the city's senior director of educational policy; Alfonso Carmona, CPS chief portfolio officer and Nicole Milberg, the school district's chief of teaching and learning. All of the candidates have backgrounds as educators and principals, working their way up to administrative roles. Carmona and Milberg both hold ranks within CPS. King is the only person being considered who works with the city. They all have a professional educator license with a superintendent endorsement. Managing the nation's fourth-largest school district requires a specific, narrow managerial skill set and focus, several board members and a former district official told the Tribune. The incoming interim superintendent will need both the financial expertise to pass the budget and the school-level understanding to successfully start the school year, they said. The new 21-person board, which is split between mayoral-appointed and elected members, will decide on the short-term schools leader later this month. It will also conduct a search for the permanent replacement later this fall, according to Che Rhymefest Smith of District 10 on the South Side. A simple majority — or 11 out of 21 members — is required to vote the candidate in. 'The one thing we don't need is any more shameful representations of leadership that were not properly vetted,' Smith said, referring to the abrupt resignation of former school board president the Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson last October for his social media posts deemed antisemitic and conspiratorial. Other board members emphasized the importance of conducting the interim CEO search with integrity. 'And we are trying to depoliticize it, because it shouldn't be a political process, right?' said Anusha Thotakura, a board member from District 6, spanning neighborhoods from Streeterville to Englewood. 'We want the best candidate for the job.' Whether outgoing schools chief Pedro Martinez's temporary replacement comes from CPS or the Johnson administration could affect potential borrowing scenarios adopted by the school board to balance a tight fiscal budget for 2026, which begins on July 1. Board members are reconciling with decades of financial mismanagement while balancing CPS' books. Macquline King, a former principal at Mary E. Courtenay Language Arts Center in Uptown and the now-closed Alexandre Dumas School in Woodlawn, currently serves as the city's senior director of educational policy. She holds a Doctor of Education degree from National Louis University, according to her LinkedIn profile. As senior director of educational policy for the city, she gets paid by CPS but technically works for the city. King disclosed in CPS documents in 2022 that she is exempt from living in Chicago, as employees hired before 1996 are not required to live within city limits. Public records show she owns property on the Near West Side. King helped manage the fallout of the 2013 Stockton Elementary merger with Courtenay, a turbulent time marked by staff tensions and student fights, according to district officials who requested anonymity due to the ongoing CEO search. But her employee record shows she didn't act with urgency on several occasions, according to CPS documents obtained by the Tribune under the Freedom of Information Act. While never formally disciplined beyond warnings, King was cited in multiple internal investigations between 2015 and 2019. Several of the allegations were later dismissed due to insufficient evidence. In April 2015, she waited several weeks before calling the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services over the alleged physical abuse of a student, according to a CPS memo signed by her supervisor. Under CPS policy, employees are required to report suspected abuse to DCFS within 48 hours. Without enough credible evidence, an investigative report dismissed the finding against another school employee, but not against King. In October that year, a CPS investigative report shows, she failed to implement the school safety plan after two students were found in a bathroom stall together, pulling their pants down and 'looking at each other's private parts and butt,' without staff supervision. The school's policy was changed to require staff members to accompany students to the bathroom before and after school. The reports state, however, that the school's staff didn't take any action to ensure it was enforced. According to an interview included in the reports, King stated that the assistant principal was in charge of overseeing the afterschool program at that time, as she was on leave. King was also cited for negligent supervision for failing to properly notify emergency contacts after a student broke their arm in December, according to CPS investigative reports. The assistant principal at the time informed the student's guardian that the reason for the lack of notification was that a nurse on duty that day was absent, according to the reports. The allegation was dismissed due to a lack of credible evidence. A CPS memo indicates that four years later, King allowed a volunteer to work at the school without requiring a background check. A memorandum of understanding later showed that the person had criminal charges. King did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request from the district for the other two candidates didn't contain any citations of negligence or misconduct. Alfonso Carmona, originally from Colombia, is CPS's Chief Portfolio Officer, a role he has held for three years. He oversees enrollment, new program development, and school accountability. Before that, he worked as a bilingual teacher at Inter-American Magnet School in Lakeview, principal at Healy Elementary School in Bridgeport, and superintendent of St. Augustine Prep in Milwaukee, Wis. He joined CPS administration as a network chief. Carmona recently led presentations to the school board on options for absorbing seven of 15 Acero charter schools slated for closure. He holds a bachelor's in economics from the University of Cartagena, two master's degrees and a Doctorate in School Administration from Western Illinois University. Nicole Milberg, CPS's chief of teaching and learning since fall 2023, oversees the district's academic strategy, including curriculum and teacher training. She previously served as a network chief, supporting diverse school models and leading the shift to remote learning. Milberg began her CPS career as a resident principal at John Fiske Elementary School in Woodlawn, later leading Ellen Mitchell Elementary School in West Town. She has also worked in Newark, N.J. and Washington, D.C. She holds a Master of Business Administration from the Yale School of Management and a Master of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, according to LinkedIn. District officials are counting on at least $300 million in additional funding from the city and state to balance the upcoming budget. However, the state budget was passed at the final hour late last Saturday, with several spending cuts, including to K-12 school districts across the state. In 2017, state lawmakers pledged to increase funding by $350 million annually for ten years to fund schools adequately. This year's budget is $43 million below that target. And the city will face its own challenges this budget season, with President Donald Trump threatening to cut billions in funding. Without additional cash, layoffs of as many as 1,700 district employees could be on the horizon, a suggestion floated to board members in mid-April. To get through the last fiscal school year and meet its growing pension obligations, city officials proposed several borrowing scenarios for the district. CPS CEO Martinez called them a short-term fix that wouldn't help the ongoing financial crisis. The financial disagreement in part cost him his job last December. His last day with the district is June 18. Martinez argued for months that while large debt issuances are a fairly routine practice for the large school district, a budget that relies on borrowed revenue for regular expenses wouldn't be sustainable and could hurt CPS' credit rating. The incoming interim pick will face the same questions and challenges.
