Roles & Responsibilities of Board of Education Member
Chicago Public Schools is a unique school system compared to other large and small school districts, and there are many commonalities with its structure that are important to understand. Specifically, the way the Board functions in relationship to the CPS executive team.
As we go into the elections, we need to remember the job that we’re electing Board members to perform. The job is not to be a singular decision maker or executive; it is to be a Board member on a team that oversees the growth and success of the entire Chicago Public School system.
Here is a quick summary of Responsibilities for CPS Board Members from the Chicago Board of Education website:
CPS has a budget of more than $9 billion, which is used to serve over 325,000 students across 634 schools. Governing this organization is a tremendous responsibility for the Board Members selected to lead. Board Members fulfill a number of specific key responsibilities, including, but not limited to:
Hiring and evaluating the CEO
Establishing the direction, goals, and priorities for the district
Approving district policies
Approving purchasing decisions, contracts, and intergovernmental agreements
Approving the district budget and capital improvement plan
Approving the school year calendar
Approving school continuous improvement plans, school actions, and school charters and contracts
Approving the dismissal of probationary appointed teachers, contract principals and tenured teachers, and non-probationary educational support personnel
***There is also a function of the Board that can and (in my opinion) should help with key legislative priorities important to CPS and our students and the state and federal level. Here is a link to that Board rule for reference. A strong Board with 21 people will be able to ‘divide and conquer’ on key strategic inititaives (short term and long term) based on skills and expertise.
Visuals can really help, so here is a three-step visualization of the CPS leadership organizational structure now, with the hybrid board (elected in Nov 2024), and then with the fully elected board.
