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Illinois School Board Journal
January/February 2004

Board service gives candidate perspective

Editor's note: Gery Chico, former president of the Chicago Board of Education, is a candidate in the March 2004 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Chico served two terms as CBE president, first appointed in 1995 and then reappointed in 1999. In 1997, he received the award for Outstanding School Board President from the Illinois State Board of Education. As a former school board member, he brings a unique perspective to the political arena. In a recent telephone interview with The Journal, Chico shared his thoughts on how school board service prepared him to run for a statewide office and the important functions that school board members serve.

How do you believe your time serving on a school board prepared you for the upcoming election?

The challenge for public education today is enormous. The $5 billion budget deficit in Illinois has caused a tremendous strain on local school districts. Many districts are using reserves they never thought they'd be using. Serving on a board of education gave me an appreciation for what members of school boards are up against. I appreciate what they're going through and what they're doing to make ends meet. I have experience with budgets and finding new sources of revenue, and that helps inform me of options to look at. I see more room in the federal budget to help out school districts. One of the ripest pieces of fruit is full funding of special education.

School funding is foremost in the minds of school leaders, and taxpayers want relief from local property tax. But local funding would seem to ensure local control. How would you justify keeping local control while asking for more state or federal money?

Right now, through NCLB, the federal government has imposed itself in local districts. If they're going to put their toe in the water and demand compliance from local districts, then those districts have the right to push back and ask for funding. The feds have already inserted themselves in local control through testing, teacher qualifications and standards. If that isn't intrusion, I don't know what is. If they want to provide funds in a way other than a blank check, they need to offer assistance to help districts improve.

Some people may think that serving on the Chicago Board of Education bears no resemblance to serving on a board in a small community ... or any downstate community. What similarities are there? And, besides size and being appointed not elected, what are the differences?

A child is a child is a child. The process of education is the same whether in Chicago or Cairo. The differences are in the scale and economic conditions. With 442,000 students, Chicago is the third largest district in the country. We have 82 percent of our students on free or reduced lunch. That presents a unique challenge. We have had to deal with massive poverty. That forced us to look at the nature of our programs, like providing up to three meals a day in some cases. It's far more important that our schools are open after hours to serve our communities. An analysis of children with educational deficiencies meant we had to look more at the home environment to see what assistance we could offer.

You saw the number of people who were preparing to take the Chicago Schools Tour at the 2003 Joint Annual Conference. How often did you visit Chicago Public Schools buildings as a board member?

I visited about 300 out of 600 of the schools in Chicago for substantive visits while I was on the board. Just to touch base with them it was more like 85 percent. Seeing for yourself what's going on at school is paramount. I don't know how you can make policy without seeing first hand what some of the conditions are.

As a former board member, who do you think should be setting goals for local districts?

We have to recognize that we live in a world with levels of responsibility. When it comes to methods and curriculum, policy should be set jointly by the school board with input from the professional administration, teachers, parents and the business community — a wide array of people have to be involved in the process. A school system has to view itself as responsive to the needs of the community it serves. We have to have the business community as an audience, because we are preparing students to go out and earn a living in their world.

What goals should school board members be setting for their districts?

Beyond reading, writing, science and math, one of our responsibilities is to impart an appreciation for civics, character, the arts, sports and service. That's one reason Chicago implemented 40 hours of community service as a high school graduation requirement. The goal should be to see a graduating student as someone who has seen or been exposed to all of those areas. That's a view shared by a lot of people.

How important are local school boards to a community?

School boards are absolutely necessary. Someone has to serve as trustees of a school district, of its finances and its educational product. It's a perfect check and balance against bureaucracy. School boards are uniquely representative of a community. They should represent business, parents and local institutions. With that composition, they serve an enormous function. There aren't many communities that would give up the opportunity to vote in their school board. That's something that's not given away easily. It's a basic societal function. And just as the community wants good policy and finances, they want to see a good school superintendent. Board members have an enormous task to choose a superintendent.

Please name one good provision and one bad provision from the No Child Left Behind Act.

The emphasis on trying to close the achievement gap is a worthy goal. That's the only good point I see. The problem: a lot of the language is noble sounding but it's an utter mandate bereft of anything to help those districts to meet the standards. I don't believe that if a school is deemed failing under the federal definition that students should be able to transfer to a non-failing school. The only way to deal with a broken school is to get in there with the tools you need, roll up your sleeves and fix the problem. And the definition of a failing school is flawed. If you have a school with 1,000 students and just one subgroup with 40 students doesn't meet AYP, then you have 960 students who are succeeding.

There's not a person I have met who doesn't want to be the education "someone." People want to grab the mantle, but they don't have the mileage...the experience. That experience of having served on a board...on the front lines of a large system...is very valuable to us as an education community.