CPS School Board: District 10 race on the South Side

The biggest star in the race is the District 10 school board, but he is joined by other top honchos – a Harvard education consultant, a workforce development expert and an activist pastor who went on a hunger strike to save the school.

District 10 begins at 26th Street and extends along Lake Michigan to the city’s southern border. Candidates emphasize the knowledge they have gained from their experiences as professionals, but they also have personal reasons for running.

When Karin Norington-Reaves is on the campaign trail, talking about running the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership and the need for more vocational and technical training in schools.

But her passion is supporting her blind daughter, who wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to travel from Chatham to a school on the North Side that can accommodate her. He calls CPS’s special education system “byzantine.”

“My daughter was born without eyes, but not without a brain,” Norrington-Reaves said at a recent forum. “She deserves to attend a top-notch school that will meet her expectations where she is, provide the right environment she needs and watch her grow and develop.”

Robert Jonespastor of Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in Bronzeville, went on a 34-day hunger strike to keep Dyett High School open in 2015. He was also involved in other fights for South Side institutions, including saving Mercy Hospital. He has four children who attended school in East St. Louis.

Norrington-Reaves is endorsed by the Illinois Charter School Network and endorsed by Urban Center Action, an independent anti-CTU publishing organization. Jones has the support of the Chicago Teachers Union and other progressive organizations.

The two independent candidates for the 10th District are: Che “Rhymefest” Smith AND Adam Parrott-Sheffer. Rosita Chotonda starts as a save.

Smith, a famous rapper and producer, financed much of his campaign. He and his son attended Chicago public schools. Smith said CPS mentors helped inspire him to become an artist.

“I stayed in the community and took what my teachers passed on to me,” said Smith, who lives in his great-grandmother’s bungalow in Chatham.

Adam Parrott-Sheffer lives in Hyde Park. In the early 2010s, he was the principal of a North Side elementary school and faced budgetary challenges. He said at the forum that he had learned how to prevent cuts so that they did not hurt children. He currently works as an educational consultant. He has two sons in CPS.

Types of schools and choices

Jones and Smith have stated that they oppose including publicly funded and privately operated charter school options in our questionnaire. But they have said on the forums that they don’t mind if existing tabs stay open. Jones said he views the school ecosystem as a structure with many parts, including charters.

“I would support existing statutes that treat students, teachers and staff with respect and meet the needs of students,” Jones wrote.

Smith said some charters will push out students who don’t meet a certain grade point average or have behavior problems, leaving local schools struggling to accommodate those students. He also doesn’t like the money from charter school operators pouring into this election.

“When we have people from charter schools in our neighborhood who are bombarding our political candidates with money bombs to control politics, I find that problematic,” Smith said during a news conference forum hosted by Chalkbeat.

Norrington-Reaves, a recipient of charter school money, believes who runs the school is not as important as the quality of the education it offers.

“We need diverse schools to meet the diverse needs of our children,” she said. She pointed to unique charter schools such as Betty Shabazz International Charter, which provides an Afrocentric education and “gives children the opportunity to learn about themselves and leave school with a sense of self-worth that goes against what society generally teaches.”

Optionally, Parrott-Sheffer also supports charter schools. But he wants to make local schools so attractive that parents “knock down the doors” to ensure their children get a place. “We should not close existing schools, regardless of management models, or tell families that we know more than they do about what is good for their child,” he said.

Parrott-Sheffer and Norrington-Reaves also said CPS should expand magnet and selective schools or at least create more specialized programs in schools. Parrott-Sheffer said any student who is willing and able to take on the challenge should have access to these programs.

CPS Budget and Leadership

Parrott-Sheffer publicly declared her support for CPS CEO Pedro Martinez in a LinkedIn post. This came after it became clear that the mayor’s office wanted to replace Martinez. The CEO and the mayor are still arguing over how to do this address budget shortfalls.

Martinez recently said he wants the mayor to do just that provide $462 million from special taxing districts called TIFs. The mayor said he would provide what he could with TIF, but CPS might need a loan — an idea Martinez rejected as financially irresponsible.

On LinkedIn, Parrott-Sheffer wrote: “It is important that we have an adult in the room who rejects the pressure to take out high-interest loans that would ruin our city. We can’t sell our future because we no longer have the courage to face the hard truths.

Smith said he was unable to discuss Martinez or the loan. Without knowing all the details, he said it would be irresponsible to make a decision already.

Although Jones has the support of the CTU, which aligns with Johnson, he has stated that he needs to evaluate Martinez before making a decision and opposes the loan. At the forum, he recommended an audit of the CPS budget and said the board must “prepare to make difficult spending decisions. You can’t just print money,” Jones said.

Norrington-Reaves said she would not fire Martinez because the decision to replace him is not contingent on his actual job performance. She also stated that too little attention was paid to reducing expenses. “Where can we cut the fat?” – she asked at the candidate forum.

Sarah Karp covers education for WBEZ. Follow her on X @WBEZedukacja AND @sskedreporter.